(26 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baabda, Lebanon – 26 August 2025
1. Wide of news briefing UPSOUND Sama Habib, U.S. embassy in Lebanon spokesperson (English): "Alright, back down please, yes? OK, if everyone could take their seats we’re going to ask ambassador (Tom) Barrack to come up."
Tom Barrack, US envoy to the Middle East , (English): "Ok everybody, everybody, no, no, no, I’m not going up there. No, no, no. No, no. Morgan (Ortagus, Deputy U.S. envoy to the Middle East). Wait, wait, wait, let’s have one rule, let’s have one rule, ok? You just had three of the most…Ok, wait, wait, wait. We’re going to have a different set of rules, right? You want – please, be quiet for a moment. And I want to tell you something, the moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone. So you want to know what’s happening, act civilized, act kind, act tolerant, because this is the problem with what’s happening in the region. So I beg you, do you think this is fun for us? Do you think this is economically beneficial for Morgan and I to be here putting up with this insanity? In cadence with your kindness, your interest, and your thoughtful questions we’ll give you responses. If that’s not how you like to operate, we’re gone. Ok? Is that acceptable to everybody?”
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East chided journalists before a news conference in Beirut on Tuesday.
Tom Barrack was in the region for talks over investing in an economic zone in south Lebanon near the border with Israel that would create jobs for members of the militant Hezbollah group and its supporters once they lay down their weapons.
At the start of the joint news conference with Morgan Ortagus, Deputy U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Barrack warned journalists at the presidential palace to be quiet, telling them to “act civilized, act kind, act tolerant.”
He threatened to end the conference early otherwise.
“The moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone,” said Barrack.
He then asked: “Do you think this is economically beneficial for Morgan and I to be here putting up with this insanity?”
None of the journalists present responded to his comments but the Lebanese press syndicate issued a statement about the “inappropriate treatment” that the Lebanese journalists were subjected to and called on Barrack and the State Department to apologize.
It added that if no apology were made, it could escalate by calling for boycotting Barrack’s visits and meeting.
The Presidential Palace also issued a statement regretting the comments made by “one of our guests” and greeted journalists who cover news at the palace, thanking them for their “hard work.”
AP video shot by: Fadi Tawil
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