Latest news with #ArabAmericansforTrump
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US negotiating Israel-Gaza ceasefire with Hamas through American in Doha, source says
The US has been talking with Hamas through an American intermediary in Doha this week in hopes of brokering an Israel-Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to a source familiar with the matter, as US officials say President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with Israel's handling of the conflict. The talks have been led on the US side by Bishara Bahbah, the American-Palestinian who led the group 'Arab Americans for Trump' during the 2024 presidential campaign and who has been working on behalf of the administration, the source said. Bahbah remotely exchanged messages with Hamas earlier this year in what became a critical backchannel to secure Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, the source said. Israel also began indirect talks with Hamas in the Qatari capital on Saturday, and working level dialogue continues. But bolstering the line between the Trump administration and Hamas could give US officials a clearer sense of Hamas's position, particularly as Trump's frustrations have mounted. In the past, the US has gone through Qatar and Egypt to correspond with Hamas. 'It tells me that they think they have a real negotiation happening. They want their own Hamas channel, not through Qatar or Egypt. That is an indicator that they think they can cut through the issues more effectively and also that they think they can influence Hamas,' said Dennis Ross, a former US envoy to the Middle East who is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. But some other regional experts are skeptical that this channel could lead to a breakthrough, given that Bahbah has limited experience and the Hamas decision makers are based in Gaza. But they argue it underscores that Trump is willing to work around Israel. 'I am not sure if this is a sign of desperation or confusion,' said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'Maybe they see him as a window into Hamas thinking, it is certainly plausible.' The growing frustrations among Trump and his top aides with Israel boil down to a key issue: the president wants the war to end – and soon. Trump, multiple sources familiar with the matter said, has been 'annoyed' on several occasions with the pace of talks. And Netanyahu, they fear, is not ready to deal. 'The president obviously wants a deal,' a person close to Trump told CNN. 'It's becoming more clear as talks continue that Bibi isn't quite there.' With Israel launching renewed strikes in Gaza, Vice President JD Vance opted not to visit the country over the weekend following his trip to Italy – a decision sources said was driven in part by logistics, and in part because his presence could have been viewed as a dramatic endorsement of the attacks. 'It would be hard to view the US as truly independent if he had gone,' the official added, calling it 'an overly generous signal of support for what Israel is doing.' Axios first reported on Trump's frustrations and the reasoning behind Vance's decision to skip a stop in Israel. The sources cautioned that Trump's frustrations do not amount to a change in posture in the United States' support of Israel, a country which the president continues to view as one of America's strongest allies. Nor is Trump privately pressuring Israel to halt its renewed military operation in the Gaza strip, said a source familiar with the matter. National Security Council Spokesman Max Bluestein argued in a statement to CNN that it 'is absolutely false' that the administration is frustrated with Israel. 'Israel has had no better friend than President Trump. We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to ensure that remaining hostages in Gaza are freed, that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon, and that every opportunity for regional economic prosperity – especially the expansion of the Abraham Accords – is exploited. As Secretary [Marco] Rubio explained over the weekend, 'What the President is saying is he doesn't want to end the war until Hamas is defeated,'' Bluestein said. Trump has shown a willingness to approach US foreign policy moves without direct adherence to Israel in recent months, including the announcement of a ceasefire with the Houthis – that did not include strikes on Israel and continued Iran deal talks while Israel has pushed for strikes on Iran's nuclear program. 'There is a litany of actions lately reflecting that Trump will do what he thinks is in the US interest and Israeli considerations aren't foremost in his mind. It's not reflecting a break necessarily with Israel but it's an effort to put energy into US interests,' Ross said. Keeping US interests front and center – especially efforts that Trump wants to pursue in the region more broadly – the administration remains focused on trying to secure a Gaza ceasefire. Bahbah has been coordinating his efforts with Steve Witkoff, the president's Middle East envoy who has also been directly in touch with Netanyahu and his aides. Witkoff recently put forward a new proposal to both Israel and Hamas that could serve as the foundation to getting both sides to agree to another ceasefire, Trump administration officials said. One of the officials said that the US wants humanitarian aid to continue flowing into Gaza, something the Israelis acquiesced to on Sunday after blocking aid into the strip for nearly 11 weeks. Israel 'can achieve their objective of defeating Hamas while still allowing aid to enter in sufficient quantities,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday. 'You have this acute, immediate challenge of food and aid not reaching people, and you have existing distribution systems that could get them there,' Rubio told the Senate Appropriations Committee. Asked if it is an emergency humanitarian situation, Rubio conceded it is. 'Ultimately, I think we all see the same images,' he said. The Trump administration was also pleased with how the talks with Hamas to release Alexander, the last known living American hostage in Gaza, unfolded in recent weeks. Instead of shutting down the channel between Hamas and Bahbah, they elevated it, signing off on in-person talks in Doha. 'His release was widely viewed internally as a goodwill gesture,' a White House official told CNN, adding that they saw the move as a key opportunity to draw Israel and Hamas back to the negotiating table. But just days later, Israeli military forces moved into northern and southern Gaza as part of the 'Gideon's Chariots' operation, which Israel warned would take place if Hamas did not agree to a deal to release hostages. The fresh attacks did little to reassure US officials that a potential ceasefire deal was on the horizon. But Trump's frustrations with Netanyahu began even before the war took another deadly turn this week, the sources familiar with the matter said. One such instance was when the Israeli Prime Minister met privately with the president's then-National Security Adviser, Michael Waltz, at the White House to discuss military options against Iran prior to a scheduled meeting in the Oval Office with Trump. The meeting, first reported by the Washington Post, has been cited as a key point of Trump's frustration with Waltz, who was later ousted from his position. But a source familiar with the matter said Trump also took issue with Netanyahu potentially trying to influence Waltz on a sensitive topic before raising it with Trump directly. CNN's Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
Ya Libnan
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Palestinian-American political activist had a key role in Edan Alexander's release
File: Bishara Bahbah, national chairman for Arab Americans for Trump, Aug. 14, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez) Palestinian-American political activist Bishara Bahbah was the mediator between US President Donald Trump's administration and Hamas who succeeded in convincing the iran – backed militant group to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander on Monday, according to a report by The Times of Israel Bahbah headed an organization called Arab Americans for Trump, which helped the president make major inroads with Arab Americans in last year's election, particularly by highlighting his pledge to end the war in the Gaza Strip. But Bahbah broke with the president over the latter's February call for the US to take over Gaza and clear the Strip of its Palestinians. Bahbah changed his organization's name to Arab Americans for Peace, but continued engaging with Trump officials and officials from governments in the region. Earlier this year, the late Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat's wife Suha gave Bahbah the phone number of Hamas's Ghazi Hamad, initiating contact with the senior official based outside of Gaza, a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel. Last month, Hamad reached out to Bahbah, seeking his assistance in connecting with US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff in order to discuss efforts to bring about a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. 'I was called by someone from Hamas who said that they are interested in releasing all the Israeli hostages in return for a ceasefire in Gaza. They asked me to communicate that message to American officials, which I did,' Bahbah told Channel 12 in a Tuesday interview about how the backchannel came about. 'Obviously, if I were in Steve Witkoff's position, I would have said to myself, 'Who the hell is he to be talking to me?' And I can understand that,' he said. 'Steve suggested that they should release [Alexander] as a gesture of goodwill… toward the president of the United States, knowing that [Trump] would then be using his influence for a ceasefire and to allow the aid to come into Gaza, that is desperately needed by people,' Bahbah said. Israel has blocked aid from entering Gaza since March 1, arguing that sufficient humanitarian assistance entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire and that Hamas has diverted much of that aid. IDF officials, however, have acknowledged in recent weeks that humanitarian assistance is drying up and that Gazans are on the brink of starvation. While Bahbah told Hamad that an end to the war would start with Hamas releasing the last living American hostage, Alexander, the group g for weeks sought to extract concessions from Israel in exchange for the 21-year-old IDF soldier. Hamad subsequently spoke with one of his superiors, Khalil al-Hayya, to further convey the urgency of the issue, according to a source familiar with the matter and another Palestinian official. Last week, Bahbah passed along a message from Witkoff to Hamad, warning that time was not on Hamas's side and calling for Alexander's release before Trump departed for the Mideast on Monday. Hamas informed Bahbah that it agreed to release Alexander unconditionally but wanted Witkoff to know that the step should not be viewed as a one-off, the sources said. Hamad stressed to Bahbah that Hamas was ready to work with the Trump administration to secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, with security arrangements to ensure a years-long calm until a final settlement of the conflict is reached, the sources said. Last Sunday, Hamad told Bahbah that Hamas was prepared to move ahead with Alexander's release, saying it had located him after claiming to have lost contact with his captors. Bahbah, in turn, told Hamas to inform Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani of the decision. The Qatari premier then called Witkoff to confirm that Alexander's release would be moving ahead. Edan Alexander, who has been released from captivity by Hamas, after he had been kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, reacts as he reunites with his parents in Reim, southern Israel, before flying to Tel Aviv May 12, 2025. He thanked president Trump but refused to meet with PM Netanyahu GPO/Handout via REUTERS Alexander was released on Monday evening. On Tuesday, Israel dispatched a negotiating team to Doha for another round of hostage talks, at the request of the Trump administration. But the sides face an uphill battle, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still insisting that he will only agree to a temporary ceasefire, whereas Hamas is demanding a permanent end to the war sparked by its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. Bishara Bahbah is a Palestinian professor. He was the associate director of Harvard's Middle East Institute and served as a member of the Palestinian delegation to the Arms Control and Regional Security (ACRS) talks following the Oslo Accords Dr. Bishara A. Bahbah, a Palestinian professor of investment, finance and wealth management was the associate director of Harvard's Middle East Institute and served as a member of the Palestinian delegation to the Arms Control and Regional Security (ACRS) talks following the Oslo Accords He is one of many Palestinians whose family still has the deed to their land in Palestine, a 68,000 square meter ( about 17 acres) orchard in the Lod-Jaffa area.
New York Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
US agrees to push Israel for truce in Gaza after Hamas reached out to pro-Trump advocate: report
The US has agreed to push Israel to accept a three-month truce after Hamas reached out to a pro-Trump advocate to help secure the release of Israeli-American Edan Alexander, according to a new report. A Hamas official stationed outside of Gaza formed a backchannel with the US to form the deal after getting hold of Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American businessman and former leader of the 'Arab Americans for Trump' group, officials told Axios. 'I am pleased that I contributed to the release of a fellow US citizen, Edan Alexander,' Bahbah told The Post. Advertisement 5 Bishara Bahbah, former head of 'Arab Americans for Trump,' helped connect Hamas with US officials to facilitate the release of Edan Alexander. Instagram/@ 5 Edan Alexander, 21, hugged his family following his release from Hamas captivity on Monday. IDF Spokespersons Unit 'My goal has also been to see the end of the suffering and hunger of the besieged Palestinians in Gaza,' he added. 'I hope that this goodwill gesture will lead to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, followed by serious negotiations for lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.' Advertisement Bahbah helped pass some 20 messages between the US and Hamas in recent weeks, with the businessman connecting with Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya to facilitate Alexander's release 'for free' as a show of goodwill toward President Trump, according to Palestinian, Israeli and American officials. Bahbah, a former associate director for Harvard University's Middle East Institute, backed Trump during the 2024 presidential race, touting him as the best option for peace in Gaza. The businessman has remained a staunch supporter of the president despite his continued arms support of Israel, with the group having since changed its name to 'Arab Americans for Peace.' Advertisement 5 Alexander gave a shoutout to President Trump as he was flown to a hospital in Tel Aviv. IDF 5 Hamas agreed to release Alexander in exchange for the US to push Israel to accept a cease-fire deal and negotiate an end to the war in Gaza. AFP via Getty Images In the backchannel talks, the White House told the terror group that if Alexander were freed, the US would pressure Israel to accept a 70- to 90-day cease-fire deal that would see 10 more hostages released. During the cease-fire, Israel and Hamas would then go on to negotiate a final deal to end the war, which has raged on for more than 19 months following the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack. Advertisement Along with Bahbah, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani was credited with helping secure the deal. 5 Edan Alexander hugs his mother after nearly 600 days in captivity. Despite the agreement, Trump showed no signs of pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war or roll back the looming mass invasion into Gaza during their call on Monday, Axios reported. Netanyahu has maintained that negotiations will only occur under fire, and that regardless of how many hostages Hamas frees, the war will continue until the terror group is eliminated. Hamas still holds 58 hostages in Gaza, 35 to 38 of whom are believed to be dead, including four Israeli-Americans.
Axios
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Scoop: Hamas approached pro-Trump activist for secret talks that freed Edan Alexander
The backchannel talks that led to the release of Edan Alexander began with a message from a Hamas official to Bishara Bahbah, the former leader of "Arab Americans for Trump," two Israeli officials, one Palestinian official and one U.S. official tell Axios. Why it matters: Hamas was seeking a way to convince President Trump to put more pressure on Israel, and Trump's team was intent on freeing the last living American held in Gaza. Bahbah, a Palestinian-American businessman who helped Trump make inroads with Arab voters in 2024, became the unlikely intermediary. The intrigue: A Hamas official outside Gaza reached out to Bahbah in late April in hopes of striking up a dialogue with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. It took time for that backchannel to materialize, but it gained momentum last week, a senior Israeli official tells Axios. Around 20 messages were passed between the sides in calls and texts to Bahbah over the last two weeks. Bahbah also spoke to Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, according to a source familiar. Bahbah declined to comment. Witkoff, with help from Qatari officials and Bahbah, ultimately convinced the militant group that releasing Alexander "for free" would carry a lot of weight with Trump. Driving the news: Around 10pm Doha time on Sunday, Hamas formally agreed to release Alexander. Then Witkoff called Alexander's parents to tell them the news they had waited 583 days to hear. "It was a very emotional call from both sides," Edan's father Adi told Axios Friction point: Israel found out about the secret talks about Alexander, an IDF soldier, not from the White House but from its own intelligence services, two Israeli officials tell Axios. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-hand-man Ron Dermer was in Washington last Thursday, his American counterparts didn't mention the backchannel. Dermer had to raise it himself with Witkoff, an Israeli official said. Witkoff confirmed to Dermer that talks were taking place but made clear Israel wouldn't have to give anything in return for Alexander's release, and that Hamas hadn't said yes yet. Flashback: Alexander's release was previously at the center of the unprecedented direct negotiations between Trump's hostage envoy Adam Boehler and Hamas leaders in Qatar in March. The Israeli government also learned about those talks from its intelligence services, who were spying on Hamas. At the time, Trump was seeking a deal to free Alexander before his State of the Union address, and Hamas was demanding the release of 250 prisoners held in Israel in exchange. Those talks hit a dead end three hours before Trump's speech. To this day, Trump's advisers believe Netanyahu's aides leaked it to the press in order to sabotage it. Witkoff floated a similar proposal three weeks later under which Hamas would release Alexander and Trump would publicly call for a temporary ceasefire and talks on a comprehensive deal. Hamas refused. Over the next several weeks, Israel gradually expanded its ground incursions into Gaza, increased its air strikes and continued to block the entry of all humanitarian aid. Zoom in: On April 22, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani visited the White House and met Witkoff and Trump. He raised a proposal supported by Hamas for a comprehensive deal to release all hostages and end the war, but the U.S. message was that a shorter-term partial deal was the only game in town. When he returned to Doha, al-Thani told that to Hamas and encouraged them to make a gesture to Trump that could shift his position, the officials said. Days later, the Hamas official reached out to Bahbah. Behind the scenes: On Sunday, while he was holding talks with Iran's foreign minister in Muscat on a possible nuclear deal, Witkoff also worked the phones with Qatar's prime minister to press Hamas to seal the deal. According to a Palestinian official, the Trump administration told Hamas that if Alexander was released the U.S. would push for a 70 to 90-day ceasefire — longer than previous offers — in return for the release of 10 hostages. Negotiations on a final deal would also begin during the ceasefire, and the U.S., Qatar and Egypt would guarantee the war wouldn't resume as long they continued, the official said of the offer. The U.S. side has not confirmed those details. When Hamas agreed to free Alexander, Witkoff called Netanyahu and Dermer in addition to Alexander's family. What they're saying: A senior U.S. official told Axios the Qatari prime minister "delivered here in convincing Hamas to finish" the deal, while Netanyahu also "heavily participated" and his military campaign was "instrumental." The senior U.S. official downplayed Bishara's role, saying "he was involved but tangentially." Between the lines: When Trump spoke to Netanyahu on Monday, he didn't press him to end the war or cancel the massive ground operation in Gaza that Israel plans to launch once Trump's trip ends, two Israeli officials said. A U.S. official with direct knowledge of the call declined to comment "Hamas did't get any commitments from Trump. They hoped to get him to be more on their side, but it seems it didn't work," an Israeli official said. Another Israeli official said Hamas took a calculated risk: "They knew they will only get something between U.S. sympathy and a clear statement by Trump. But it was worth it for them to take that chance." Trump, who has been frustrated at times by Netanyahu's intransigence, could still decide to apply more pressure at some point soon. What to watch: Witkoff and Israeli negotiators will travel to Doha on Tuesday to resume talks on the broader Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Trump Supporters Who Didn't Take Him at His Word
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Ask Trump supporters why they like the president, and chances are good you'll hear something like: He tells it like it is and says what he means. The question, then, is why so many of them refused to take him at his word. Over the first three weeks of the second Trump presidency, a recurrent motif is that Trump does exactly what he said he would, and then people who backed him react with shock and dismay. If you're surprised, you weren't paying attention—and judging from recent examples, many people weren't. When Trump announced his plan (I'm using the word generously) to occupy the Gaza Strip and convert it into an international real-estate development, the chairman of Arab Americans for Trump, which formed to back him during the election, expressed shock and betrayal, and announced that the group would rename itself Arab Americans for Peace. Some Arab American voters may have felt compelled to lodge a protest vote against Joe Biden's handling of the war in Gaza, even if it meant contributing to Trump's win, but no one should have been surprised that a guy who used Palestinian as an insult during the campaign was not a sincere champion for the people of Gaza. Some Venezuelan Americans in Florida are feeling similar outrage. Trump continued to make gains with Hispanic voters in 2024, but this month he ended Temporary Protected Status, a designation that allows noncitizens to stay in the country, for about 300,000 Venezuelans, with more TPS designees likely to lose their status later. 'They used us,' the Venezuelan activist Adelys Ferro told NPR. 'During the campaign, the elected officials from the Republican Party, they actually told us that he was not going to touch the documented people. They said, 'No, it is with undocumented people.'' In fact, both Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance said they wanted to deport people legally allowed in the country, such as Haitians in Springfield, Ohio. Some voters just convinced themselves that their own groups wouldn't become targets. They're not alone. Some Kentucky educators who voted for Trump are aghast that his administration is trying to cut off federal funding that they need to keep their schools functioning, despite his campaign-trail promises to abolish the Department of Education. 'I did not vote for that,' one principal told CNN. 'I voted for President Trump to make America first again and to improve our lives.' The Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union, endorsed Trump for president, then decried Trump's decision to pardon January 6 rioters who attacked police officers—never mind that he had promised pardons while campaigning. CEOs and bankers who decided they liked Trump better because he favors low taxes and less regulation are suddenly chagrined to learn that he was serious about tariffs. A Missouri farmer who voted for Trump is horrified that the administration is freezing federal funding for conservation programs, even though Trump promised to eliminate environmental programs and slash government spending. All of this was foreseeable. In a 2015 tweet that remains depressingly relevant a decade later, Adrian Bott joked: ''I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party.' But I don't want to single out ordinary citizens. Even Republican members of Congress are doing the same dance—cheering on Trump cuts in general but scrambling to protect their own states from losing any federal money. They ran for office with the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party, but they never expected the leopards to eat their faces too. Other Trump promises were pretty dubious if you listened to the rest of his plans. 'Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again,' he said. But Trump's signature campaign ideas were large tariffs and mass deportation. Both of these are inflationary: Tariffs raise the price of goods, and mass deportation makes labor scarcer, raising salaries, which in turn drives prices higher. Today, the Federal Reserve released the first Consumer Price Index update of Trump's term, finding 3 percent inflation. That's a hair above economists' expectations but in line with last month's figures. Persistent inflation shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, and not only because of the sharp rise in egg prices, driven by bird flu, that my colleague Lora Kelley covered last week. You don't need an economics degree to predict this. You just had to heed the many warnings about it, which even Fox News covered. Or you could just listen to what Trump said, as when he suggested that tariffs would pay for child care or that Biden's encouragement of wind power was responsible for inflation. These aren't just the kinds of comforting nonsense all politicians sometimes peddle; they're incoherent. Since winning the election, he has downplayed his inflation promises and announced a set of tariffs that, although not fully felt yet, may already be edging prices higher. Now Trump wants the Fed to drop interest rates, which would stimulate the economy—and likely increase inflation. When Trump ran for president in 2016, uncertainty about his seriousness was understandable. He was a legendary merchant of hyperbole, and no one was sure where his persona ended and his real political intentions began. No such excuse applies anymore—as I pointed out in September, Trump was president once, and he tried to keep most of his big promises, albeit often ineffectively. This time around, Trump said he was going to do these things—and hey, he tells it like it is. Related: Trump was president once. Trump's plan to supercharge inflation (From June) Here are three new stories from The Atlantic: David Frum: Why the COVID deniers won The hidden costs of Musk's Washington misadventure So about that asteroid that could hit Earth ... Today's News Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed entering negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Former Representative Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed as the director of national intelligence. Marc Fogel, an American schoolteacher who had been wrongfully detained in Russia since 2021, was released from prison and landed in the U.S. last night. Evening Read The Tesla Revolt By Patrick George Donald Trump may be pleased enough with Elon Musk, but even as the Tesla CEO is exercising his newfound power to essentially undo whole functions of the federal government, he still has to reassure his investors. Lately, Musk has delivered for them in one way: The value of the company's shares has skyrocketed since Trump was reelected to the presidency of the United States. But Musk had much to answer for on his recent fourth-quarter earnings call—not least that in 2024, Tesla's car sales had sunk for the first time in a decade. Read the full article. More From The Atlantic Why Silicon Valley lost its patriotism Donald Trump and the politics of looking busy Presidents may not unilaterally dismantle government agencies. The government waste DOGE should be cutting Afrikaner 'refugees' only Culture Break Read. Pick up one of these seven books when you want to quit. Play. A radical tweak makes the video game Civilization more realistic—and more depressing, Spencer Kornhaber writes. Play our daily crossword. P.S. When I'm not writing about politics, I like to moonlight as The Atlantic's jazz writer. One of these days, I want to profile the tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, who I think may be the most dynamic figure in jazz today. He released a new album, Apple Cores, on Friday, and it's typically excellent—which is to say, it's excellent and also not beholden to any particular type. Like Sonny Rollins, a clear inspiration, Lewis makes music that's adventurous and challenging but doesn't require a deep immersion in jazz to appreciate. I especially like 'Prince Eugene,' which is driven by the percussionist Chad Taylor's hypnotic mbira riff. — David Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter. Explore all of our newsletters here. When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic. Article originally published at The Atlantic
