Morgan Ortagus
US diplomat, Trump's deputy special envoy to the Middle East and Lebanon envoy in 2025, partner of the Lebanese banker Antoun Sehnaoui
| Morgan Ortagus
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|---|---|
| Image | 
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| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Diplomat; former State Department spokesperson |
| Known for | US envoy on Lebanon, 2025; praise of Antoun Sehnaoui as a Zionist |
Morgan Ortagus is an American diplomat. She was State Department spokesperson in Donald Trump's first administration and deputy special presidential envoy to the Middle East in his second.[1] In 2025 she led the administration's work on Israeli–Lebanese relations.[2] Axios reported that she left the government in January 2026.[3] She is the partner of the Lebanese banker Antoun Sehnaoui.[4]
Envoy to Lebanon
On 7 February 2025, after meeting President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, Ortagus said: "Hezbollah was defeated by Israel and we are grateful to our ally Israel for defeating Hezbollah." She said the US had "clear red lines" that Hezbollah would not be part of the government. Aoun's office replied that her remarks expressed "her point of view, and the Presidency is not concerned with it".[5][6] She told The Jerusalem Post that after March 2025 she revived the military "mechanism" set up under the November 2024 ceasefire, bringing Israeli and Lebanese officers together every two weeks, which "eventually helped lead to civilian negotiations".[2]
Sehnaoui
On 17 April 2026, at an event at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum funded by Sehnaoui, Ortagus praised him as a supporter of "Israel" from a family of "Lebanese Christian Zionists".[7] On 27 July 2026 she and Sehnaoui hosted a dinner in Washington in memory of Senator Lindsey Graham, attended by Benjamin Netanyahu, according to an Israeli official cited by Reuters.[8] Lebanon's prosecutor then issued a wanted notice against Sehnaoui.[4]
Later statements
In September 2026 she said that Israel and Lebanon were "halfway down the aisle" towards peace.[2] She told Iran International that Hezbollah's "parallel state within a state" would take time to remove.[1]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 NOW, Ortagus: Lebanon Must Dismantle Hezbollah's Parallel State NOW Lebanon, 28 September 2026, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Amichai Stein, The weakening of Hezbollah and the fragile path to Israel-Lebanon normalization The Jerusalem Post, 17 September 2026, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Axios, Lebanon asks U.S. for direct peace talks with Israel to end fighting Axios, 9 March 2026, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fatima Al Mahmoud, Lebanon issues wanted notice for Antoun Sehnaoui after dinner with Netanyahu The National, 30 July 2026, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ The National, Hezbollah must not be in Lebanon’s government, says US envoy The National, 7 February 2025, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Al-Monitor, US envoy visits Lebanon, says US 'grateful' to Israel for defeating Hezbollah Al-Monitor, 7 February 2025, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Al Jazeera, Controversy as Lebanese banker Sehnaoui is praised for supporting Israel Al Jazeera, 17 April 2026, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Reuters, Lebanese lawyers seek probe of banker over Netanyahu dinner Al-Monitor, 29 July 2026, accessed 22 October 2026.