Tom Barrack, the US special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey, is in the spotlight again over comments he made, this time about Israel and the Golan Heights.
Speaking last week to podcast host Mario Nawfal, Mr Barrack said Israel "still" occupies the Golan Heights, in breach of UN resolutions and "all of the international order which has said the Golan is Syria's".
That is at odds with Washington's stance, as President Donald Trump during his first term recognised Israeli sovereignty over the strategic high ground on the border between Israel and Syria.
Republican Senator Rick Scott said on X that Mr Barrack either forgot the US position "or failed to do his research", before offering the ambassador a "refresher".
Mr Barrack on Monday sought to clarify his comments. In a statement to AP, he said that US "policy on the Golan was set by President Trump in 2019 and is unchanged".
He said he was trying to explain why he thought Israel would not try annexation in Lebanon's south and to argue that negotiated settlements are more durable than taking territory by force.
Conservative activist Laura Loomer said on X that Mr Barrack had been called back to Washington for consultations. The State Department did not comment.
Mr Barrack is also under scrutiny for suggesting, in the same podcast, that Israel may have tried to provoke a confrontation with Turkey as a political calculation ahead of elections.
He said Israel conducted a strike on a military airfield in eastern Idlib last week, even though diplomatic communication was happening through a back channel shortly before the attack.
Richard Grenell, the special presidential envoy for special missions, defended Mr Barrack, saying "he is doing exactly what he's asked to do".
Mr Barrack drew attention last year when, during a media briefing, he cautioned journalists not to become "animalistic" and said he and another official would leave if reporters failed to “act civilised”.
In December, he said Israel can "claim" that it is a democracy but that "a benevolent monarchy" is what works best in the Middle East. He was making the point that the West should not try to impose its preferred form of governance on Syria after the regime of president Bashar Al Assad collapsed.
In July 2025 he told The National that Lebanon was at risk of becoming Bilad Al Sham again, the historical name for the Syria region. Lebanese political figures interpreted his remarks as implying Lebanon could become a Syrian vassal.
A former official from the first Trump administration told The National that Mr Barrack's comments about the Golan Heights were problematic even though he has a close relationship with Mr Trump.
"He just feels he’s very close to Trump, and I think he felt he could say it," the former official said. "The problem, though, is that this directly contradicts the President."
