President-elect Donald Trump announced he is appointing Morgan Ortagus to serve in his incoming administration as deputy special presidential envoy for Middle East Peace on Friday.
Ortagus would serve under Steven Witkoff, who Trump announced in November was his choice for special envoy to the Middle East.
In his announcement on Friday, Trump noted that while he and Ortagus once shared opposing views in the past, he hopes she will “be an asset to Steve, a great leader and talent, as we seek to bring calm and prosperity to a very troubled region.”
“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. Let’s see what happens…I expect great results, and soon,” Trump said.
Ortagus served in the first Trump administration as spokesperson at the Department of State.
Before that, Ortagus 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.