Trump will be the first major 2024 candidate to visit Dearborn, Michigan, which has a majority Arab population.

LANSING, MI. – Donald Trump plans to visit Dearborn, Michigan – National largest Arab-majority city — on Friday, according to a local business owner who first insisted that the former president call for peace in Lebanon before accepting it.

Metro Detroit is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Arab Americans, a significant portion of whom live in Dearborn. The city, which President Joe Biden won by a 3-to-1 margin, is in political turmoil, with many unhappy with the Biden administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.

While Vice President Kamala Harris worked on surrogates for relief Due to tensions in the community, Trump’s visit will be the first by any candidate, according to local leader Osama Siblani. Earlier this year, Harris met with the city’s Democratic mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, although their conversation took place outside of Dearborn.

Sam Abbas, owner of The Great Commoner restaurant in Dearborn, told The Associated Press that Trump was planning to visit his restaurant.

“We expect some comments on ending the war and bringing peace to the Middle East,” Abbas said. “I’m not here to play politics. I’m not here to tell people what I vote for. I’m just here because our family is being slaughtered and we just want to end the war. Stop the bombing.”

Israel invaded the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and last month launched an invasion of Lebanon to crush Hezbollah, a militia that routinely fires rockets into Israeli territory. At least 43,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not differentiate the death toll between combatants and civilians.

The Trump campaign declined to comment on the visit. This followed Trump’s rally in Michigan last week, when he brought local Muslims to the stage. Trump also received support from two Democratic mayors of Muslim-majority cities.

Although many democratic leaders in society not endorsed by Harristhey remain deeply negative about Trump and say his support does not reflect the views of the majority of the public. They also remember his call for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the country and his travel restrictions on visitors from Muslim-majority countries. Some have noted that Trump has suggested he would give Israel even more leeway to attack its rivals in the region.

Even so, Democrats are concerned that traditionally loyal voters could defect to Trump or third-party candidates such as Jill Stein, or skip the top half of the ballot altogether. That could prove decisive in Michigan, a state that both sides view as a toss-up.

Abbas said Trump allies several weeks ago I asked him to host Trump in Dearborn. Before accepting Trump, Abbas said he would like to see a statement from Trump, which he said shows Trump “is committed to ending the war and helping us rebuild Lebanon and help the displaced and the wounded.”

The announcement came Wednesday as Trump tweeted on X that he wanted to “stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon.”

“I will maintain an equal partnership among all Lebanese communities,” Trump said on X. “Your friends and families in Lebanon deserve to live in peace, prosperity and harmony with their neighbors, and this can only happen with peace and stability to the Middle East.”

As soon as Trump made his announcement, Abbas said he agreed to host the event. He expects about 100 people from the community.

“He came to us to tell us: look, I did what you asked. My intentions, my true intentions, are to bring peace and end the war,” Abbas said.

___

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.