US Senate confirms Lebanese-American ambassadors for Tunisia, Lebanon

The US Senate has now confirmed two out of President Donald Trump's three Arab American picks for ambassadorships in the Middle East: his golfing companion, businessman Michel Issa, to be ambassador to Lebanon; and Bill Bazzi, former mayor of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, to be ambassador to Tunisia. 

Both men were born in Lebanon.

The third nominee, Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, has still not been confirmed.

Issa was described by Trump as 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 honor and distinction," the president wrote on his TruthSocial account in March. 

According to his LinkedIn account, Issa was educated in France and worked in the banking sector there before acquiring and running luxury auto dealerships in the US. 

In 2012, he co-founded the Michel Issa Foundation for Local Development (MIF) in Lebanon with fellow Syriac Maronite Lebanese businessmen, the Syriac Press reported. 

He made it clear at his Senate hearing in July that he believes there cannot be progress in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed.

"Hezbollah needs to go. Hezbollah needs to be disarmed to bring some kind of hope to Lebanon," he told lawmakers. “Their allegiance was never for Lebanon, always for Iran... [and] Iran does not care what happens to the Lebanese people."

Issa's confirmation on Tuesday was lauded by Trump's deputy envoy to the region, Morgan Ortagus, who wrote on her personal account on X: "Congrats my dear friend!! I am so thrilled to work with you. Mabrook!"

Prominent Sunni Lebanese parliamentarian, the billionaire Fouad Makhzoumi, also welcomed the news.

"We look forward to his arrival, confident in his ability to enhance the vital US-Lebanon partnership," Makhzoumi wrote on X.

Just a week before Issa was confirmed, the Senate voted to approve 21-year Marine Corps veteran Bazzi as ambassador to Tunisia. 

His endorsement of Trump last year, at the height of the campaign season and nearly a year into Israel's war on Gaza and Lebanon, was seen as pivotal to swinging the Arab-American bloc in Michigan from Democratic blue to Republican red. 

His appointment by Trump was largely seen as a reward for his loyalty, especially when it was unpopular, given Trump's anti-Muslim policies during his first term. 

On Election Day in November 2024, Bazzi recounted to Middle East Eye his journey from Lebanon to the US when he was 12 years old.

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"The week we came to the United States, we were getting bombarded by Israel," he said. "So one of the biggest reasons I endorsed Trump is because he's been preaching the same thing, the same message... He wants to stop the war. He wants to do more, be involved with more diplomacy, and he's pushing for peace". 

The State Department's "certificate of competency" - awarded to all those in training for top foreign posts - cites Bazzi's experience working for Boeing and Ford, as well as an "engineer and auditor of billion-dollar corporations" before becoming mayor of Dearborn Heights, an Arab-American majority suburb of Detroit.

MEE asked Bazzi last year about the fractures within the Arab and Muslim community because of the choices in the election, and the vote-shaming of those who backed Trump.

"He's going to lead. He's going to have good people in his cabinet, on his leadership team, to help us all be united. And that's the message he's putting together," he said. 

The outlier

A third candidate, the Yemeni-born clinician and mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, has had his confirmation hearing for ambassador to Kuwait indefinitely delayed because of grievances from pro-Israel groups.

Ghalib, who has been vocal in his support for Palestinians, formally endorsed the president-to-be in September 2024, after a year in which the Biden administration had been carrying out air strikes in Yemen.

Trump himself attributed many of his electoral gains in the Detroit suburbs, among Arab and Muslim communities, to Ghalib personally. 

His certificate of competency cites him as a "well-known poet in his community" - something certainly on display on his public Facebook page under the name Ameer Ghalib. His name is, in fact, pronounced Aa-mer, but it is often mistaken for Ameer. He has said he does not mind. 

"He also organizes educational health sessions, focusing on screening, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the most common medical illnesses in the community," the State Department said.

Ghalib moved to the US at the age of 17, and in 2022 became the first Muslim mayor to lead an all-Muslim city council in Hamtramck. 

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In the wake of Trump's nomination, the Anti-Defamation League, which has long promoted Israel-friendly policies in the US, said Ghalib has "routinely trafficking in antisemitism" and that "Kuwait has the second highest levels of antisemitic attitudes in the world," meaning he would "further fuel antisemitic beliefs in the country and across the region". 

The ADL also attacked Ghalib's support for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement - a non-violent action modelled after the approach that isolated Apartheid South Africa. BDS says it seeks to "pressure Israel to comply with international law".

Other pro-Israel groups said Ghalib has denied reports of sexual violence allegedly committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 during the group's attack on southern Israel, and has referred to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein as a "martyr".

Under Ghalib's leadership, the city council was among the first in the country to halt all financial investments linked to Israel, The Hamtramck Review reported. 

As of last week, Ghalib said he still has Trump's backing. 

"President Trump has just called me and emphasised his unwavering support to me to serve as the next Ambassador of the United States to the state of Kuwait, and he thanked our community for their support," Ghalib wrote in a Facebook post. 

He has also made a number of trips to the White House in recent weeks, sharing images taken alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. 

"I fight my battles alone, relying on God and the love and support of the people, alongside forces, organisations, and lobbies that mobilse millions to fight me. When they were unable to stop my progress, they resorted to methods of deception, lies, deception, and disruption at the highest levels," Ghalib wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday, which he said was dedicated "to the Arab-speaking community". 

"They went back 15 years on social media to search for a slip of the tongue here or there. All of these are fabrications and false accusations that we will overcome, God willing," he said. 

"I am in the prime of my youth, and there is more to come!"