Ortagus to make her last visit to Beirut before being replaced
by Naharnet Newsdesk 02 June 2025, 13:02
U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus is expected to visit Lebanon at the end of this week, in a visit that might be her last before she moves to another post in the U.S. administration, media reports said.
'Any replacement will be certainly better than her regarding the Lebanese file, after she showed harsh diplomacy in dealing with it,' diplomatic sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Monday.
The Nidaa al-Watan newspaper meanwhile quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Ortagus' replacement is 'not imminent.'
'The U.S. diplomat is active on the level of the Lebanese file and diplomatic circles do not have the impression that she is preparing files for her successor,' the sources said.
The daily added that Ortagus will 'insist on getting clear answers regarding the issue of Hezbollah's arms and wants the answers to include a timetable for arms handover.'
The newspaper also said that Ortagus' visit to Lebanon could be her last visit to the country and that her replacement 'took place due to matters related to the U.S. administration and not to the Lebanese file.'
U.S. journalist Laura Loomer said in a post on X that Ortagus 'will be cordially reassigned to another role in the Trump administration.'
'She wanted to be the Special Envoy to Syria, but the position was instead given to Tom Barrack,' Loomer added.
'Morgan's replacement will be announced this week by (U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East) Steve Witkoff, according to White House sources,' she said.
Ortagus had been named as Amos Hochstein's successor as the request of some Republicans, although U.S. President Donald Trump was not enthusiastic about her appointment.
"Early on Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson," Trump wrote at the time.
Ortagus is close to many senior Republicans like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Senator Lindsey Graham, former national security adviser Mike Waltz and Trump's envoy for special missions, Ric Grenell.
She also worked closely with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner during Trump's first term in office, and they remain close. During the Republican presidential primary before the 2016 elections, Ortagus criticized Trump's "isolationist" foreign policy and his personal behavior.
After noting that past criticism, Trump said he decided to appoint Ortagus regardless of their differences because "she has strong Republican support."
"I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing it for them. Let's see what happens," he added in January.
In Israel, a Channel 14 journalist said Ortagus' departure would not be in Israel's favor, seeing as she is an avid supporter of Israel and has 'firmly worked on the file of disarming Hezbollah.'
Al-Akhbar newspaper meanwhile noted that Ortagus has 'a very bad relation with Army Commander Rodolphe Haykal' and that President Joseph Aoun had expressed to U.S. officials 'his unease over her approach and her way in talking to officials.'
'She later criticized a large number of politicians, including a clear insult to ex-MP Walid Jumblat which embarrassed the majority of the friends of the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon,' the daily added.
Sources close to Aoun meanwhile told al-Akhbar that Ortagus' replacement could be Joel Rayburn, an anti-Iran hawk and one of the most prominent U.S. officials who followed up on the Syrian file throughout the past decade.
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