President-elect Trump tapped Morgan Ortagus, a former State Department spokesperson, to serve as deputy special presidential envoy for Middle East Peace in his next administration.
Trump noted in his announcement that Ortagus was previously critical of him. As a Fox News contributor in 2016, she bashed Trump over behavior she thought was “disgusting.” She then served in the State Department from 2019 to 2021.
“Early on Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson. These things usually don’t work out, but she has strong Republican support, and I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for them,” he said on Truth Social. “Let’s see what happens.”
Ortagus would serve as deputy to real estate executive Steven Witkoff, who Trump named in November to be special envoy to the Middle East.
“She will hopefully be an asset to Steve, a great leader and talent, as we seek to bring calm and prosperity to a very troubled region. I expect great results, and soon!” Trump said in the announcement.
Trump endorsed Ortagus’ run for Congress in 2022, before she was removed from the ballot by the Tennessee Republican Party because she had moved to the state too recently.
Ortagus is an officer in the Navy Reserve and worked at the Treasury Department during President Obama’s administration.
Trump highlighted her experience in his announcement on Friday.
“From 2019-2021, Morgan served as Spokesperson at the Department of State (Pompeo!), where she was a member of my Historic Abraham Accords team that brought unprecedented Peace to the Middle East. Earlier, she worked at the Department of the Treasury as a financial intelligence analyst and, from 2010-2011, was the Deputy U.S. Treasury Attaché to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Trump said.
He added, “good luck Morgan!”
