US ambassador Issa to present his credentials

On November 14, 2025, United States Ambassador-Designate Michel Issa arrived in Lebanon, marking the first American ambassador of Lebanese descent to take office in Beirut.

US embassy in Beirut welcomes Issa

In an official press release, the US embassy in Beirut announced the arrival of Ambassador Michel Issa in Lebanon.  “Ambassador Issa,” the embassy stated, “had a distinguished former career in banking, where he spent two decades excelling as a currency trader, managing trading floors, and leading initiatives in credit and compliance before transitioning to a successful career in the automobile industry.”

The embassy also published an official brief biography of its new ambassador, claiming that “Ambassador Designate Issa previously served as President & CEO of Newton Investment Group LLC, in Newton, New Jersey, following a distinguished twenty-year banking career, including in New York, and Paris. In 1999, Ambassador Designate Issa retired from banking to pursue his passion for automobiles and successively applied his business acumen to the automobile industry.” It added that “Ambassador Designate Issa was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and spent his early childhood there before moving to Paris, France.  He holds a DEUG (Diplome D’Etudes Universitaires Generales) Associate Degree in Economics from the University of Paris X Nanterre in Nanterre, France. He also studied at the Cours d’Etudes Superieures de Banques, in Paris, France.”

Issa arrives to his hometown in Bsous

On November 16, 2025, the town of Bsous witnessed a socially and spiritually significant event with the return of its son, Michel Issa, on an unofficial visit to his hometown ahead of officially assuming his duties.

In response to the wishes of the ambassador and the embassy, his visit to his hometown remained low-profile, as pictures were not displayed, since he preferred to meet the people of his village in an informal manner.

The visit began at the village cemetery, where a relative of the ambassador confirmed that he used to visit every 2 to 3 years, with the first stop always being the cemetery, where his mother and father are buried.

After that, the ambassador headed to the village’s Our Lady’s Church to attend mass at 11:00 a.m., before entering the church hall to meet relatives, friends, and attendees.

Today, on November 17, 2025, Ambassador Issa will carry and present his credentials to the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, to officially assume his duties in the country.