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Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed taken aback when a reporter questioned why President Donald Trump’s son-in-lawtaggedjoined a high-level meeting with international officials.

Michael Boulos, husband of Tiffany Trump, was seated next to the secretary of state during a meeting on Wednesday with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, while Rubio stumbled over his words Thursday in Kuwait when questioned about the president’s family member being present.

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“Michael Boulos?” Rubio said, after a short pause. “Oh, he was there to visit—his brother lives here. He just came to see me and catch up.”

A different journalist inquired if the meeting constituted a working lunch.

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There was, but he wasn’t. The discussions around him were about— he was just here because his brother lives here, and I’m a good friend of Michael’s, so we had the opportunity to reconnect.Rubio said, before expressing gratitude to the reporters and departing.

A 28-year-old Boulos, a Lebanese-American entrepreneur who wed the president’s younger daughter in 2022, is the son of Massad Boulos, Trump’s top advisor for Arab and African Affairs.

Rubio postedA photograph shared on social media on Wednesday depicted Boulos sitting beside him in front of Emirati officials, and he mentioned that they had talked about Trump’s peace initiative regarding Iran, maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and the stability of the Middle East.

The Boulos family and their allies have experienced a decline in their financial successimprovedrastically since his 2021 engagement to Tiffany Trump, with his initial deal focusing on promoting an investment in a luxury yacht to another traveling Trump son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Michael Boulos, who was employed at his cousin’s yacht brokerage at the time, received a prearranged commission from the transaction, although Kushner is said to have approved the deal without being aware that the company had charged him an extra $2.5 million.