Trump appoints Ortagus as deputy Mideast envoy, but admits he’s not excited about it
In making announcement, US president-elect appears to reference the ex-State Department spokesperson’s previous criticism of him, warns that he expects results soon
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced his decision to appoint former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus as his deputy Mideast envoy.
Ortagus will work under Steve Witkoff, who was one of the first appointments Trump made following his election in November. Both of them are Jewish.
Trump was far from effusive in his Truth Social post announcing the decision.
Ortagus “fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson,” he says.
He didn’t get into specifics, but Ortagus criticized Trump’s “isolationist foreign policy approach,” in the 2016 presidential primary. She shifted to support Trump once he secured the nomination and was rewarded with the job of spokesperson of the State Department for much of his first term.
In the 2024 presidential election, though, Ortagus backed Trump’s former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley during her long-shot run.
“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. Let’s see what happens,” Trump wrote on Friday.
Ortagus has close relationships with some of the less-isolationist foreign policy bigwigs in the Trump world, such as incoming secretary of state Marco Rubio, incoming national security adviser Mike Walz and former senior White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“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 added.
Ortagus will bring a wealth of foreign policy experience, which will likely be of great value, given that Witkoff comes from the business world and has never worked in the public sector.
She worked as a public affairs officer at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) before serving as an intelligence analyst in the Treasury Department focusing on the Middle East. In 2010, Ortagus was appointed deputy Treasury attaché at the US Embassy in Riyadh.
Orgatgus converted to Judaism after she began dating Jonathan Weinberger. The couple got married in 2013 in a ceremony officiated by the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The 42-year-old mother of one will work alongside a gradually growing Trump Mideast team that includes Witkoff, senior adviser for Arab and Middle Eastern affairs Massad Boulos, hostage envoy Adam Boehler and ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Their first task could be trying to secure a hostage deal, as the Biden administration races to finalize negotiations between Israel and Hamas before Trump’s January 20 inauguration. Qatari mediators hosted delegations from both sides on Friday but significant disagreements are said to remain.
