Trump’s Blunt New Middle East Envoy, Here is Morgan Ortagus

Alongside Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Ortagus is prepared to furrow brows in a region known for its sensitivities. As the new Deputy United States Special Envoy for the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus might be expected to continue her predecessors’ habit of diplomatic utterances, ever mindful of sensitivities, but that would be a personal departure because she specialises in making big, bold statements. One such statement on 7 February put the new Lebanese President, Joseph Aoun, in an awkward situation. Speaking in Baabda, home to the presidential palace and just a few kilometres from Hezbollah’s traditional stronghold of Dahiyeh, Ortagus was…