Will Ortagus replace Barrack as US envoy to Lebanon?
Morgan Ortagus will return to being the U.S. special envoy to Lebanon and Tom Barrack is no longer in charge of the Lebanese file, Lebanese TV networks reported on Friday.
But a U.S. State Dept. official later told Al-Arabiya's Al-Hadath that the reports are baseless.
Ortagus had been accused of adopting an approach of 'harsh diplomacy' in Lebanon, while her successor Barrack, who is of Lebanese origins, has been accused of making contradictory statements regarding Hezbollah and the thorny issue of the group's weapons.
Barrack handled the Lebanese file in recent months alongside his roles as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and U.S. special envoy for Syria.
Media reports had said that Barrack had replaced Ortagus due to 'matters related to the U.S. administration and not to the Lebanese file.'
U.S. journalist Laura Loomer had said in a post on X that Ortagus would 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.
Ortagus had been named as Amos Hochstein's successor at 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 had 'firmly worked on the file of disarming Hezbollah.'
Al-Akhbar newspaper noted recently that Ortagus had '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.
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