By Harry Cockburn

Copyright independent

Morgan Ortagus, a former beauty queen turned foreign policy decision-maker, has emerged as one of Donald Trump’s most visible envoys in the Middle East – drawing headlines this week for her vocal opposition to a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In her address to the UN Security Council on Thursday, Ortagus said the ceasefire resolution “fails to condemn Hamas or recognize Israel’s right to defend itself,” and called on Hamas to “surrender immediately”.

All 14 other members of the Security Council voted in support of the resolution, which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic”.

Ortagus told delegates the US position should “come as no surprise.” They said a UN inquiry that found Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is “a slanderous report that lacks any credibility.”

Her position on Gaza is indeed unlikely to surprise anyone who has followed her career progression, first coming to wider public attention as a Middle East analyst for Fox News, before becoming a key foreign policy advisor in the Trump administration.

Once crowned “Miss Florida Citrus” in 2003, Ortagus has distanced herself from the title, but acknowledged it helped her win scholarships to university. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of South Florida and a master’s degree in business administration and international relations from Johns Hopkins University.

Her rise through the ranks of Republican foreign policy circles has been marked by sharp rhetoric, media savvy, and an apparent knack for aligning herself with the party’s most influential figures.

According to think tank Responsible Statecraft, Ortagus is considered one of the “strongest pro-Israel supporters in the [Trump] administration.” At the same time, Israel’s Ynet News has characterized her as being “closely aligned with Israeli interests”.

Beginning her political career in 2006, she worked on campaigns and press for Republican candidates. She was then hired as a public affairs officer at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), spending several months in Baghdad, Iraq.

In 2007, Ortagus, a former evangelical Christian, converted to Judaism, according to The Times of Israel.

In 2008, she joined the U.S. Department of the Treasury as an intelligence analyst, covering North Africa and the Middle East.

By 2011, Ortagus had joined the private sector, with positions at Standard Chartered Bank and at accountancy firm EY, and also began making appearances on Fox News.

She returned to government in 2019, taking a role as spokesperson for the State Department under Secretary Mike Pompeo. This position solidified her reputation as a staunch defender of Trump-era foreign policy.

Her enduring loyalty to the Trump administration during Biden’s presidency earned her a place in Trump’s post-White House inner circle. When Trump was re-elected in 2024, she was tapped as a special envoy to the Middle East, a role that has placed her at the center of many of the Trump government’s most controversial decisions.

Her support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and her stance on the war in Gaza have drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates and foreign policy analysts, who have warned that the U.S.’s resolute backing of Israel is leaving the country increasingly isolated on the world stage.