Morgan Ortagus, a U.S. diplomat closely associated with President Donald Trump, has divorced her Jewish husband and begun a romantic relationship with Lebanese tycoon Antoun Sehnaoui, whose bank was previously accused of assisting Hezbollah. The claims of links between the bank and the terrorist group appeared in the Daily Mail, which later corrected its report and stressed that Sehnaoui denied the allegations.
Ortagus, 43, began her professional career in the U.S. Foreign Service as a public affairs officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development. During postings in the Middle East, she developed an interest in Judaism and later converted. In 2013, she married businessman Jonathan Weinstein in a ceremony officiated by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a longtime neighbor. The couple has a daughter, Adina.
Ortagus served as State Department spokesperson during Trump’s first term in the White House. Early in Trump’s second term, she was deputy to Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East. Over the summer, she took up a role as an adviser at the U.S. mission to the United Nations. She previously worked as a commentator for Fox News.
The diplomat finalized her divorce in November. According to the Daily Mail, Ortagus is now in a relationship with Anton Sehnaoui, 53, an economist, film producer and publisher who serves as chairman of banks in Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan and Monaco. A source close to Ortagus said the relationship began after the separation and was disclosed through appropriate channels in accordance with government regulations.
Sehnaoui, a Lebanese Christian, is a descendant of Emir Bashir Shihab II, who ruled Lebanon during the first half of the 19th century. He grew up in Beirut before moving to the United States, where he studied business and banking at the University of Southern California.
In addition to his work in film and publishing, Sehnaoui heads Lebanon-based SGBL bank, which holds assets estimated at about $26 billion. He became chairman and principal shareholder in 2007 and expanded the bank’s operations to Abu Dhabi, Cyprus, France and Colorado.
In 2019, a federal lawsuit was filed in the United States against SGBL and several other Lebanese banks. Plaintiffs alleged the banks provided financial support and banking services to Hezbollah, assistance they said enabled the group to finance attacks in Iraq between 2004 and 2011 that killed and wounded Americans. SGBL denied the allegations. Associates of Sehnaoui rejected the claims and described him as an “outspoken Zionist.”
First published: 16:19, 01.07.26