Who is Antoun Sehnaoui? Lebanese banker linked to top Trump diplomat Morgan Ortagus

lewis henry morgan Ortagus, the U.S. Surrogate Special envoy extraordinary to the UN for Middle East Peace, is alleged to be in a romantic involvement with Lebanese banker Antoun Sehnaoui.

Ortagus separated from her husband, Jonathan Weinberger, in November, according to filings in their ongoing divorce.

It is reported that following the rumor, Otagus has been on administrative leave. Neither Ortagus nor Sehnaoui had publicly commented on the matter.

Laura Loomer, a right-wing political activist in the United States, claims that Ortagus was put on administrative leave by the Trump administration because of the claimed relationship.

According to Lebanese media, Ortagus has been going to Lebanon on a regular basis while living apart from her husband, American lawyer Jonathan Weinberger, and their daughter.

Since the middle of 2025, there have reportedly been rumors of an affair with Sehnaoui; some publications even claim she filed for divorce.

Following Morgan's separation, the relationship started. A person close to Ortagus told the Daily Mail, "She disclosed it through the appropriate channels in full compliance with all government regulations."

However, Weinberger's filing for divorce in Nashville, Tennessee, where they had previously shared a $2.25 million home with their little daughter Adina and pet dog Ozzy, confirmed their separation.

This was when Weinberger "decided to divorce," according to a source close to Ortagus, rather than a specific date for the end of the 12-year marriage, which was "well prior" to the filing.

The date of their split is listed as the "date of filing" in his November 4 petition, which attributes it to "irreconcilable differences."

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A picture of a jewellery receipt with both of their names started making the rounds on social media, which was the first sign of her developing romance with Sehnaoui.

The sales slip, dated December 13 of last year, listed two diamond and platinum pendants totaling thousands of dollars that were acquired at the main Manhattan store of Tiffany & Co.

Sehnaoui's Mastercard paid the charge, although Ortagus was named as the account holder.

However, sources close to Ortagus claim to The Daily Mail that they could have visited the store at the same time, but the receipt might not be real and may be a fake one. They said, “This shows just how desperate and pervasive the disinformation campaign is. The Tiffany purchases were holiday gifts purchased by Antoun for the mothers of his two children.”

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Ortagus, 43, was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump in January 2025 to serve as Special Envoy Steve Witkoff's Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Middle East Peace.

She formerly worked as a national security correspondent for Fox News and as a State Department spokesperson during Trump's first administration from 2019 to 2021.

Ortagus was a major contributor to the Abraham Accords while working for the State Department and was particularly critical of China and Iran. She was an intelligence analyst and deputy attache at the Treasury Department before joining the US Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer in 2014.

Ortagus told Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at their meeting on February 7 that Hezbollah "won't be able to terrorize the Lebanese people" and emphasized U.S. Opposition to the group's involvement in Lebanon's government.

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