President <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> has nominated Michel Issa as the next US ambassador to <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/lebanon" target="_blank">Lebanon</a>. Mr Trump described Mr Issa as "an outstanding businessman, a financial expert, and a leader with a remarkable career in Banking, Entrepreneurship, and International Trade". "I have no doubt that he will serve our Country with Honour and Distinction," he wrote on his <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2024/03/22/what-is-truth-social-donald-trumps-social-media-platform/" target="_blank">Truth Social</a> platform late on Friday. Mr Issa is Lebanese American. He is originally from a town to the north of Beirut. He is a golfing buddy of Mr Trump's, according to <i>L'Orient Today.</i> On his LinkedIn account, Mr Issa says he studied economics in Paris before coming to work at a series of banks, including the Union of Arab and French Banks. His profile states he has a passion for cars, and he left the banking sector in 1999 to focus on cars and acquired Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen dealerships. It is unknown if he has any diplomatic experience. Mr Issa would need to be confirmed by the Senate before taking up the role, and that could be challenging, with Democrats in the chamber having placed a "blanket hold" on Mr Trump's nominees for State Department posts following massive <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/02/05/fired-usaid-workers-hold-protest-at-us-capitol-after-musk-and-trump-shut-agency/" target="_blank">cuts to foreign aid programmes</a>. If confirmed, Mr Issa would take up a complex file at a complicated time. Lebanon is slowly untangling itself from a lengthy political crisis that prevented the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/02/26/lebanese-parliament-backs-new-government-in-historic-vote/" target="_blank">formation of a government</a>. An <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2025/02/28/hezbollah-disarmament-in-south-lebanon-making-good-progress-says-french-general/" target="_blank">uneasy truce</a> between Israel and <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/hezbollah" target="_blank">Hezbollah</a> also adds uncertainty to Lebanon's future. Mr Issa would replace Lisa Johnson, who took on the role in 2023. She previously served in Namibia and the Bahamas and was director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council.
