Trump pick for deputy Middle East envoy said Kurds must be protected

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Donald Trump’s pick for deputy presidential envoy to the Middle East is a former State Department spokesperson who had called for the protection of Syrian Kurds.

“I am honored that President Trump appointed me to the role of Deputy Presidential Envoy to the Middle East, under my dear friend Steve Witkoff,” Morgan Ortagus said in a post on X early Saturday.

President-elect Trump will be inaugurated on January 20. He announced Ortagus’ nomination on Friday.

“To be given the opportunity to once again represent my country and the Trump Administration in a crucial diplomatic role is [a] dream come true. The most important thing is that through President Trump, we bring peace and stability to a troubled region, and I'm grateful to play a small role in that endeavor,” said Ortagus, who served as State Department spokesperson during Trump’s first term. 

Days after Bashar al-Assad’s regime was toppled by a coalition of rebel groups spearheaded by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) last month, Ortagus told Bloomberg that the United States should protect Syrian Kurds. 

“The great threat from Syria is that the new vacuum will be filled by a resurgence of ISIS,” she said, referring to the Islamic State group that seized control of swathes of Syrian and Iraqi land in 2014 but was territorially defeated by 2019.

“Our leaders need to ensure the Kurds are protected and that terrorists can't exploit this chaos with a jailbreak,” said Ortagus. 

The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who control most of northeast Syria (Rojava), have been the main partners of the US-led global coalition against ISIS on the ground. They are holding thousands of ISIS jihadists and their family members in jails and camps.

Ortagus will be deputy to real estate tycoon Steve Witkoff, who has been named special presidential envoy to the Middle East.