By Maria maalouf and John Rossomando
Former Deputy Mideast Envoy Morgan Ortagus’ dismissal by President Donald Trump highlights a major policy shift in the second Trump administration toward the positions of pro-Islamist Qatar and Turkey.
Israel’s Ynet News claims that the move to oust Ortagus and other pro-Israel officials from the administration was pushed by Vice President J.D. Vance and by Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.
Ortagus expressed skepticism about Syrian President Ahmad Shara’a, aka Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, and his “conversion on the road to Damascus” when it comes to the former Syrian al-Qaida leader. Such a position is a traditional Republican position; however, it’s not clear that the Trump administration is taking traditional Republican positions in the Middle East when it comes to Islamists.
Ortagus reportedly clashed with her former boss, Amb. Steve Witkoff, a former New York real estate mogul who has a history of close business ties to Qatar. Witkoff sold New York’s Park Lane Hotel to the Qatar Investment Authority in 2023 for $623 million.
She spoke last month at the Qatar Economic Forum during which she talked about expelling foreign fighters from Syria and supporting the Kurds.
Trump’s visit to the Middle East signaled a major shift that included meeting Shara’a in person in Saudi Arabia.
“I think he has got the potential,” Trump said after meeting him. The president announced his lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria.
Now a few weeks later, you have Trump’s Syria envoy Amb. Thomas Barrack, who also is the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, saying the U.S. now supports integrating former jihadists into the new Syrian army.
“I would say there is an understanding, with transparency,” Barrack said.
Lebanon’s pro-Hizballah newspaper Al-Akhbar newspaper speculated that Ortagus had clashed with Barrack after hoping to expand her role by taking over the Syria portfolio as well as that of Lebanon.
“It is unclear whether her replacement will build on Ortagus’ understandings or adopt a new policy that resets the file,” Al-Akhbar reported. “The Lebanese file has been downgraded in U.S. priorities, with Syria now taking center stage.”
Now reports say that Shara’a will visit New York and speak at the United Nations in September, which further underlines how Ortagus found herself on the outside looking in at the Trump administration’s accommodationist policies in the Middle East.
Ortagus said disarming the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would be dangerous; however, Barrack suggested that merging it into the new Syrian army was of the utmost importance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been impatient to get the SDF to honor its commitment to merge with the new Syrian armed forces, which is led by former jihadists.
Ortagus shared skepticism of the president’s stated Syrian policies along with similarly ousted former National Security Council Mideast Director Eric Trager, a longtime opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Ortagus recently pushed for a promotion which would expand her regional portfolio. She had lobbied to take over the Syria portfolio before it was ultimately handed to US envoy Thomas Barrack, and is now awaiting an official response from the White House”, Al-Akhbar said.
Ortagus received her answer, and it was not the one she expected.
Israeli sources expressed deep concern over Ortagus’ departure amid the rise of anti-Israel Libertarians who favor a non-interventionist policy in the Middle East.
“Morgan Ortagus, deputy to Steve Witkoff and the official in charge of the ‘Lebanon file’ in the administration, will soon be leaving her position,” Israeli journalist Tamir Morag, Channel 14’s diplomatic correspondent, said on X.
“This is not good news for Israel – Ortagus was very pro-Israel and worked quite assertively to promote the disarmament of Hezbollah.”
The president gave Ortagus a lukewarm welcome when he announced her appointment in January. “Early on Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson,” Trump said in a statement announcing the appointment.
The president also said, “These things don’t usually work out. . . But let’s see what happens.” Trump never forgets a sleight against him no matter how long ago it was.
Ortagus called a Trump “middle school pubescent boy” in 2016.
Lebanon’s presidency resented Ortagus’ call to disarm Hizballah, claiming that she had adopted a condescending posture during her February visit to Lebanon. She insulted former Lebanese MP Walid Jumblatt, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed opposition to her alleged condescension.
Lebanese Army Commander Rodolphe Haikal bristled as Ortagus claimed that U.S. aid was the only thing “keeping the army on its feet.”
Her departure leaves a lot of questions unanswered as Trump contracts his administration away from traditional means of diplomacy that he believes has failed and not served the American people.
