Algerian ambassador to Lebanon dismissed for verbal attacks against Trump

The Algerian ambassador to Beirut, who had been in office since last February, was dismissed from his post Wednesday after being filmed verbally attacking U.S. President Donald Trump with language deemed inappropriate during a cultural event in Lebanon, according to several media outlets including TSA Algérie, which cites an official source.

Kamel Bouchama was filmed speaking at a conference themed "Lebanon and Algeria: radiant history and bright present," organized in Beirut last week. According to a clip, the diplomat, who was speaking in Arabic, referred to the head of state as a "cowboy" and a "simpleton," literally suggesting that his place was in a "madhouse."

These remarks apparently came as part of broader comments about the situation in Gaza, where war has been ongoing since Oct. 7, 2023.

Surreal, the sequence apparently did not go over well in Algiers, where Bouchama was said to have expressed "a personal opinion that cannot be considered an official position" and "stepped outside the bounds of diplomacy by deviating from the principles and values of Algerian diplomacy," according to official sources contacted by TSA Algérie.

The news outlet noted that the diplomat's comments and the resulting fallout constitute a rare episode in Algeria's history, as the information was reportedly announced by the authorities — likely on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025 — by the Algiers regime, without an official statement or press release.

TSA Algérie reports that Bouchama was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Lebanon in February, and in May was also accredited as Algeria's Ambassador to Cyprus, based in Beirut. A former minister and member of the National Council, he was appointed to the presidential third in March 2023. Previously posted in Syria, he was forced to leave after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime last December.

Lebanese officials have not commented on the incident and the decision.