New State Department spokeswoman, new Fox News connection

The US State Department has a new spokeswoman and, keeping up the trend for President Donald Trump's administration, she has links to Fox News.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Morgan Ortagus, a former US intelligence analyst and national security contributor to Fox News, has become the new spokeswoman -- the face of the United States on the global stage through regular press briefings.

"Morgan brings outstanding credentials and a record of public service to the position," Pompeo said in a statement.

"Morgan will no doubt help the State Department fulfill its mission of promoting and defending the administration's foreign policy priorities for the American people and among the international community," he said.

She replaces Heather Nauert, who came to Trump's attention as a host of "Fox and Friends," one of the television-loving president's favorite programs.

Trump said he would appoint Nauert to become US ambassador to the United Nations, but she withdrew herself from consideration before her name was submitted to the Senate and she has not been seen in public for several months.

Ortagus criticized Trump's foreign policy views and temperament when he was running for president in 2016 but has since defended his record.

The spokesperson's job does not require Senate confirmation.

Ortagus spent several months in Iraq in 2007 as a public affairs officer for the US Agency for International Development, according to the State Department She later served as the Treasury Department's deputy attache in Riyadh, tasked with stemming illicit financial flows to and from Saudi Arabia, according to the department.

Trump also spotted his national security adviser, veteran Republican policymaker John Bolton, as he appeared as a commentator on Fox News.

Bill Shine, an executive at the conservative-leaning channel, also worked as White House director of communications before quitting to advise Trump's re-election campaign.