President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named Morgan Ortagus, the State Department spokeswoman during his first term, to be the deputy special presidential envoy to the Middle East.
Ortagus will work under special envoy Steve Witkoff, who was among Trump’s first picks for his new administration. Ortagus and Witkoff are Jewish.
“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “I expect great results, and soon!”
Trump wrote Ortagus, an active Navy Reserve intelligence officer, was part of the team that brokered the historic Abraham Accords during his first administration, where Israel reached diplomatic ties with Arab states Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.
“Early on, Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson,” Trump wrote, without offering specifics.
Ortagus reportedly criticized Trump during the 2016 Republican primary, over what she called his “isolationist foreign policy approach” and called his behavior “disgusting” and “not serious.” But she became a vocal Trump supporter after he secured the party’s nomination.
“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,” Trump wrote. “Let’s see what happens.”
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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