Trump welcomes Qatar air force to Idaho military base

The Trump administration announced Friday that it would allow Qatar to operate a military facility in Idaho. This follows the Qatari government giving President Donald Trump a multimillion-dollar airliner and striking a deal with his company to develop a golf course there.

In the grip of a scandal Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made the announcement during a press event with Qatar Defense Minister Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

“Today we are signing a letter of acceptance for the construction of a Qatar Emiri Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho,” he said. saidafter crediting Qatar with helping broker a Gaza ceasefire deal.

The United States and Qatar are in talks to have some sort of military training capability in Idaho. for yearsbut this announcement comes after the foreign government threw millions of dollars at Trump.

In May, Qatar offered Trump a luxury plane, which the military is converting into Air Force One. Trump was widely criticized for accepting a foreign gift worth millions. The plane is expected to be transferred to his future presidential library after he leaves office.

On Thursday, Senate Democrats tried to block defense funding for the jet conversion process, but the measure was rejected by Republicans.

Following the gift of the plane, Trump signed a September decree that promised to provide support – including military support – to Qatar in the event of an armed attack on the Middle Eastern nation.

The Trump Organization, Trump’s private company, announced in April that he had struck a deal with the government of Qatar to build a luxury golf resort there. Noah Bookbinder, who heads the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, criticized the arrangement, telling the Associated Press at the time: “You want a president to make decisions that are in the best interest of the United States, not his bottom line.” »

Trump’s intimacy with Qatar has become even more suspect since he has already criticized this nation for having links with terrorist organizations.

“The nation of Qatar has historically been a financier of terrorism at a very high level,” Trump said. said in June 2017.

One of his most prominent supporters, Laura Loomer, racist conspiracy theoristcriticized the announcement of the installation in Qatar on Friday.

“I never thought I’d see Republicans give Qatari Muslims who fund terrorism a MILITARY BASE on American soil so they can assassinate Americans. I don’t think I’ll vote in 2026,” she wrote. “I cannot, in good conscience, find any excuse for harboring jihadists. That’s where I draw the line.”

Trump has normalized open corruption in the presidencyraking in millions in exchange for favors and political deals. Today, American security appears to be for sale, regardless of the consequences for the public.