Morgan Ortagus
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Morgan Deann Ortagus (born July 10, 1982) is an American diplomat,
intelligence analyst Intelligence analysis is the application of individual and collective cognitive methods to weigh data and test hypotheses within a secret socio-cultural context. The descriptions are drawn from what may only be available in the form of delibera ...
, political advisor,
naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...
officer, and former television commentator serving as deputy special presidential envoy to the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as
spokesperson for the United States Department of State The Spokesperson for the United States Department of State is a U.S. government official whose primary responsibility is to serve as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State and the U.S. government's foreign policies. The posi ...
from 2019 to 2021. Ortagus began her career in government as a deputy
attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...
and intelligence analyst at the
United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...
and later as a public affairs officer at
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...
. She worked as a national security contributor at
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
until her appointment as State Department spokesperson. Since 2014, Ortagus has been an
intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...
in the
United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...
. During her time at the State Department, Ortagus was critical of Iran and China, particularly over the
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
's efforts to shift blame to the United States for the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. She played a key role in the
Abraham Accords The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August ...
. Ortagus is the founder of POLARIS National Security, co-chair of the Women's Democracy Network at the
International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...
, and a member of the board of advisors for the China Center at
Hudson Institute Hudson Institute is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation. Kahn ...
. She was a candidate for
Tennessee's 5th congressional district The 5th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Andy Ogles since January 2023. In the past, the fifth district has been nearly synonymous with Tennessee's capi ...
in the 2022 election, but was disqualified by the
Tennessee Republican Party The Tennessee Republican Party (TRP or TNGOP) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Tennessee. Since the mid-1960s, the state has become increasingly Republican. The current chairman of the Republican Party of Tennessee is Sco ...
despite her endorsement by
President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
.


Early life and education

Ortagus was born in
Auburndale, Florida Auburndale is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,616 at the 2020 census. History Auburndale was founded in 1880 by Frank Fuller, ...
to Ronald E. and Denise C. Ortagus. Her father owned a cleanup and restoration company, and her mother was the office manager. An identical twin, she grew up in Florida and won the Miss Auburndale, Miss Teen Auburndale, 2003 Miss Florida Citrus, and Miss Orange Blossom titles. Ortagus volunteered with
Students Against Destructive Decisions Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), formerly Students Against Driving Drunk, is an organization whose aim is to prevent incidents from students making potentially destructive decisions. Mission "SADD empowers and mobilizes students ...
and
Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada ( MADD Canada) and Brazil that seeks to stop driving with any amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent un ...
after her mentor was killed by a drunk driver in 1996. In 2005, Ortagus, a first-generation college student, graduated from
Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. It offers undergraduate, gradua ...
with a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
. Originally interested in studying music, she switched her major to political science after the
September 11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. In 2013, Ortagus graduated from
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
with both a Master of Arts in Government degree and a
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
from the
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School is the graduate business school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It was established in 2007 and offers full-time and part-time programs leading to the Ma ...
. Ortagus' research at JHU included an honors thesis on
counterinsurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
.


Career


Political campaigns

In 2006, Ortagus worked as
press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dutie ...
on former Deputy National Security Advisor K. T. McFarland's
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
campaign. Prior to that, she worked on
Adam Putnam Adam Hughes Putnam (born July 31, 1974) is an American politician and conservationist who served as the 11th Florida commissioner of agriculture from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the U.S. House of Repre ...
's campaign staff. Ortagus was a
volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...
on the
Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign The 2016 presidential campaign of Jeb Bush, the 43rd Governor of Florida, was formally launched on June 14, 2015, coming six months after announcing the formal exploration of a candidacy for the 2016 Republican nomination for the President of t ...
.


United States Agency for International Development

From 2007 to 2008, Ortagus was a public affairs officer at
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...
(USAID), spending several months in
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
,
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
. She attended a
Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...
ceremony in one of
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's former palaces in Baghdad.


United States Department of the Treasury

In 2008, Ortagus joined the U.S. Treasury Department, working as an intelligence analyst within the Treasury's Office of Intelligence and Analysis, covering
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
and the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. Ortagus was a deputy Treasury attaché at the U.S. Embassy in
Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
starting in 2010. She worked to counter
illicit financial flows Illicit financial flows, in economics, are a form of illegal capital flight that occurs when money is illegally earned, transferred, or spent. This money is intended to disappear from any record in the country of origin, and earnings on the stock ...
and was the principal liaison from the Treasury Department to the banking sector in Saudi Arabia. She returned to the United States in 2011.


Private sector

After returning to the United States, Ortagus joined the private sector, first as global relationship manager at
Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, Wholesale banking, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retai ...
working with clients from
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, and then in 2016 as executive director at
Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
(EY), where she helped found EY's Geostrategic Business Group working on
geopolitical Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of states: ''de facto'' independen ...
risk analysis for investors. In 2013, she was the vice president of the board of the Friends of the Public Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, based in Washington. Ortagus worked as national security contributor and Republican strategist at the
Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
, appearing on ''
Fox & Friends ''Fox & Friends'' is an American daily morning conservative news and talk program that airs on Fox News and reruns on Fox.Thompson, Ethan, and Jason Mittell. "Fox & Friends: Political Talk." ''How to Watch Television.'' 168-76. Print. It premie ...
'', '' Outnumbered'', '' The Five'' and ''Mornings with Maria'' on the
Fox Business Network Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American conservative business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios ...
. Ortagus and Samantha Vinograd co-founded GO Advisors, a geopolitical risk and policy advisory firm that focused on bridging divides between Wall Street and
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
with the White House and U.S. Treasury Department. Ortagus was on the National Board of Directors of Maverick PAC as National Co-Chair. The organization's co-founder said that Ortagus "turned the organization really into a new frontier." She was also a member of the CNAS Council and Future of Sanctions Task Force, a member of the Institute for the Study of War's Advancement Committee, a board member to the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, a board member to the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan, and an advisor to Concordia where she contributed to the strategic direction and development of the organization's foreign and defense policy programming.


Military service

In 2014, Ortagus was commissioned as an intelligence
officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
in the United States Navy Reserve. In April 2025, she was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander, sworn in by Secretary
Pete Hegseth Peter Brian Hegseth (born June 6, 1980) is an American author, former television presenter, and former Army National Guard officer who has served as the 29th United States secretary of defense since 2025. Hegseth studied politics at Princeton ...
at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
.


United States Department of State

Ortagus returned to government in 2019 as Spokesperson for the
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
, succeeding
Heather Nauert Heather Anne Nauert (born January 27, 1970) is an American broadcast journalist and former government official who served as Spokesperson for the United States Department of State in the Donald Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. Nauert ...
. ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' columnist
Josh Rogin Josh Rogin is an American journalist currently serving as a foreign policy columnist for the Global Opinions section of ''The Washington Post'' and a political analyst for CNN. He is author of the book ''Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Bat ...
described Ortagus as a bridge between the establishment and more conservative wings of the Republican foreign policy communities, and wrote that she was friends with
Eric Trump Eric Frederick Trump (born January 6, 1984) is an American businessman, activist, and former reality television presenter. He is the third child and second son of U.S. President Donald Trump and his first wife, Ivana Trump. Trump is a truste ...
and
Ivanka Trump Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman. She is the second child of Donald Trump, the president of the United States, and his first wife, Ivana. Trump was a senior advisor in her father's first admi ...
. She served until the end of the
Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...
, going on maternity leave in November 2020. During her tenure, she promoted the
Abraham Accords The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August ...
, which brokered peace agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan.


Return to private sector

Post-government, Ortagus was a Senior Advisor for the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the
Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...
, but left by March 2022. She also is a founding investor of Rubicon Founders, a health-care investment firm based in Nashville, Tennessee, in February 2021.


2022 congressional campaign

On February 7, 2022, Ortagus announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for
Tennessee's 5th congressional district The 5th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Andy Ogles since January 2023. In the past, the fifth district has been nearly synonymous with Tennessee's capi ...
. Two weeks prior, former President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
endorsed Ortagus for a potential congressional run, saying that "I am told the very strong and impressive Morgan Ortagus is exploring a run in Tennessee's 5th Congressional District." ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'' forecasted a competitive Republican primary, with some frequent Trump allies backing other candidates. Following Trump's endorsement, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill on March 29 to require Congressional candidates live in the district they represented, and to have lived in the state for the three years prior. If signed by the governor, the law's provisions would have taken immediate effect, disqualifying Ortagus. The ''Tennessean'' reported that the bill targeted Ortagus' candidacy. Instead, Governor Bill Lee allowed the bill to become law unsigned, but only after the congressional filing deadline had passed; as the law's requirements were not retroactive, it did not apply to Ortagus' campaign. On April 19, the Tennessee Republican Party's executive committee removed Ortagus and two other candidates from the primary ballot for the 5th district. The party stated that official challenges had been filed against the three, obligating their removal from the ballot per party bylaws. On June 10, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the Republican Party had not violated open meetings laws, thus keeping the three off the ballot. Maury County Mayor
Andy Ogles William Andrew Ogles IV ( ; born June 18, 1971) is an American politician and businessman who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Tennessee's 5th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Re ...
won the Republican primary on August 4.


U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Middle East Peace

On January 3, 2025, then-
President-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Un ...
Donald Trump announced his intention to appoint Ortagus as deputy special presidential envoy for Middle East peace, under
United States Special Envoy Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the President of the United States, president to serve as the United States' diplomat, diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as Ambassador-at-la ...
to the Middle East
Steve Witkoff Steven Charles Witkoff (born March 15, 1957) is an American real estate investor and lawyer who has served as the Ambassadors of the United States#Special envoys, representatives, and coordinators, United States Special Envoy to the Middle East ...
, during his second administration. On February 7, she met with Lebanese President
Joseph Aoun Joseph Khalil Aoun (; ; born 10 January 1964) is a Lebanese politician and army general who has served as the 14th president of Lebanon since 9 January 2025. He has previously served as the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and is the f ...
, emphasizing U.S. opposition to
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
's role in Lebanon's government, stating it "won't be able to terrorize the Lebanese people." However, the Lebanese presidency downplayed her remarks.


Political positions


China

In July 2020, Ortagus said that blame rested with both political parties "for almost 40 years for not seeing the
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
for who they really are," and stressed the need for American citizens not to trust Chinese social media and technology companies that seek to access private data of U.S. citizens. She welcomed moves by U.S. social media companies not to allow the Chinese government to access their data. In August 2019, Ortagus called the
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
government a "thuggish regime" for harassing a Hong Kong-based American diplomat. She has condemned the Chinese government's treatment of workers in
Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
, China as well as their detention and indoctrination of Uyghur and other religious and ethnic minorities, and called on the CCP to end the use of forced labor. In May 2020, Ortagus said that China was "breaking its word 27 years early" regarding its imposition of a new national security law in Hong Kong and was "taking over the largest financial hub in Asia."


Iran

After the U.S. killed Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, Ortagus stated, "no one was affected by the brutality and the terrorism of Qassem Soleimani more than the Iranian people themselves." She argued that the United States had "exercised the maximum restraint possible despite repeated provocations and attacks from the regime and through their proxies. And, finally, enough was enough." She noted Iran had used its proxies to "foment terror throughout the region" and warned that if Iran targeted U.S. diplomats or soldiers, that the U.S. government would "do everything within the law to defend ourselves and defend American interests." Iran did so via
Operation Martyr Soleimani On 8 January 2020, in a military operation code named Operation Martyr Soleimani (), Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched over 12 ballistic missiles at the al-Asad Airbase in Al Anbar Governorate, western Iraq, as well as a ...
, the largest ballistic missile attack ever against Americans, resulting in traumatic brain injuries for 110 U.S. servicemen at the Ayn al Asad Airbase in Iraq. Ortagus called on Iran to allow the United States to participate in the investigation after Iran shot down
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752/AUI752) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 flying the route was shot down by the ...
in January 2020. In July 2020, Ortagus condemned the Iranian judiciary for its persistent violation of human rights, including their role in the death of journalist
Zahra Kazemi Zahra "Ziba" Kazemi-Ahmadabadi (; 1948 – 11 July 2003) was an Iranian-Canadian freelance photojournalist. She gained notoriety for her arrest in Iran and the circumstances in which she was held by Iranian authorities, in whose custody she wa ...
, and for the Death Commissions that killed thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s. She repeatedly tweeted in support of Iranian dissidents and protestors, and said that "the whole world should stand behind the innocent Iranians that are being persecuted by their own government."


Israel and Middle East peace agreements

Ortagus defended Israel against Iranian threats after the U.S. killed Iran's
Quds Force The Quds Force () is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It specializes in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Fo ...
Commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, saying "there is no country that Iran threatens more on a routine basis through their vile and hateful and racist rhetoric than the state of Israel." She also repeated the United States' longstanding pledge to work with Israel to protect mutual security interests. In 2020, she encouraged Israel to more closely scrutinize foreign investments from China, saying "we do not believe decisions that would make Israel beholden to the Chinese Communist Party is what's best for Israel." Ortagus was present for the September 11, 2020, phone call between President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
, and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah on which the
Abraham Accords The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August ...
was agreed to. After the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel, UAE, and Bahrain, Ortagus said, "Peace for Israel, one of our strongest allies in the world, is important for American national security, because we believe in a strong sovereign state of Israel... Anytime we can bring our friends and allies together, it is positive for the United States." She blamed Palestinian leadership for failing to negotiate with Israel, and for their economic malaise.


Russia

In August 2019, Ortagus called on the Russian Federation to use deconfliction channels to prevent escalation around the border of the Russian-occupied Georgian region of South Ossetia. In May 2020, she blamed Russian interference in Syria, Libya, and Yemen for exacerbating humanitarian crises and causing the deaths of civilians. In July 2020, Ortagus stated that the United States was "troubled by reports of Russian government efforts to manipulate the result of the recent votes on constitutional amendments, including reports of voter coercion, pressure on opponents of the amendments, and restrictions of independent observers of the vote," and that the United States was concerned with an amendment that would potentially allow President Putin to remain in office until 2036."


Paid parental leave

Ortagus called legislation that secured 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers a "monumental achievement" that would provide peace of mind to thousands of working families, and cited
Ivanka Trump Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman. She is the second child of Donald Trump, the president of the United States, and his first wife, Ivana. Trump was a senior advisor in her father's first admi ...
's bipartisan efforts as key to passage of the legislation in the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act.


Other

In June 2019, Ortagus said the United States "views
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
's claim that the waters of the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
are internal waters of Canada as inconsistent with international law." In October 2020, Ortagus said that the United States had expressed its strong opposition to the Government of Turkey's acquisition of the Russian
S-400 The S-400 Triumf ( – Triumf; translation: Triumph; NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler), previously known as the S-300 PMU-3, is a mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed in the 1990s by Russia's NPO Almaz as an upgrade to the S ...
system, and that the "United States has been clear on our expectation that the S-400 system should not be operationalized." She argues that global food insecurity is not just a
humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or exter ...
but also a national security threat for America, fostering conditions ripe for terrorism and mass migration. She advocates for the U.S. to invest in market-based solutions and agricultural technologies to alleviate the crisis while competing with hostile nations like China.


Personal life

Ortagus married Jonathan Weinberger, an attorney, in 2013, and the couple have a daughter, Adina, born in 2020.
Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...
, Ortagus's neighbor, presided over their wedding. This is her second marriage; her first ended in divorce. Ortagus converted to
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
after exploring the religion while living in
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, Iraq.


References


External links

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Ortagus, Morgan: Biography
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortagus, Morgan 1982 births 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American anti-communists Converts to Judaism from Christianity First Trump administration personnel Florida Republicans Florida Southern College alumni Fox News people Jewish American military personnel Jewish American people in Tennessee politics Johns Hopkins Carey Business School alumni Living people People from Auburndale, Florida Second Trump administration personnel United States government officials of the Iraq War United States Department of State officials United States Department of State spokespeople United States Department of the Treasury officials United States Navy officers United States Navy reservists