When Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Rhani, the Emir van Qatar, President Trump organizes during a lush dinner in his palace in Doha on Wednesday evening, it will be the highlight of a successful charm-offensive by the Gulf Emiraat who will probably be the promise of a luxury jetliner to the Heer Trumpiner.
The president, who described the Emir as a “great gentleman” and a “friend of me”, gives Qatar the honor to organize one of the first foreign visits of his second term. As far as the plane is concerned, the president says that he would be ‘stupid’ not to accept such a nice gift despite loud objections, not only from Democrats, but also of some of his most fervent Maga supporters.
It is a dramatic change for a small Persian golf country that Mr Trump mocked eight years ago as “a financier of terrorism at a very high level.” At that time he worked with Qatar’s bitter rivals in the region – who imposed it A punishing blockade On Doha – in calling an end to what he described as the ‘extremist ideology’ of the country.
Since then, Qatar has continued to try to transform his reputation into the global community, partly by spending millions of dollars on lobbyists in Washington and other capitals. Among those lobbyists was Pam Bondi, now the attorney general of Mr. Trump.
A large part of Qatar’s Image Makeover was the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2022. A year later, when Hamas-conducted terrorists attacked Israel and months of brutal war in Gaza, Qatar became a crucial communication line between the militant group and Israel.
“What Qatar is trying to do today is not only cherishing in his wealth and being happy that Trump wants to visit himself, but also a kind of burning of himself because they can say:” Yes, we are back, “said Simon Henderson, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
For Mr Trump, he said, the aircraft is important “because he loves large planes and also because he wants an identifiable business victory – something that honors him.”
But the possibility of an air force one with a Qatari heritage has inspired a recoil among Americans who are not as bullish as Mr. Trump about the generosity of Qatar or their motives.
It is not surprising that the top democrat of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, objected and sworn on Tuesday to block all judicial nominees of Mr Trump until the White House answers questions about the ethical and safety branches of the president who accepts such a gift and is used as his primary means of transport.
The issue has also created a rare gap between Mr Trump and the people in the heart of his political machine.
“Like, please” America first “in a way that says you have to take pockets in cash from the Qatari Royals,” said Ben Shapiro, a leading conservative podcast host, sarcastic in his show. “It’s just not ‘America first’ in a conceivable way.”
Laura Loomer, a right -wing influencer who has successfully put pressure on Mr Trump to dismiss assistants who considered unfaithfulness to the president, shot the idea in various posts on social media.
“We can’t accept a ‘gift’ of $ 400 million from jihadists in suits,” Mrs. Loomer written On Tuesday.
Qatar has long said that his financing for Gaza was approved by Israel and that the money went to humanitarian projects and salaries for civil servants in Gaza. Critics such as Mrs. Loomer reject that explanation.
She added: “I say that if someone would take a bullet for Trump. I am so disappointed.”
Mark Levin, the host of a syndicated radio program and a fierce supporter of Mr. Trump, had a reaction of one word to Mrs. Loomer: “Ditto.”
A Qatari officer said that no decision had been made about donating the aircraft and that such a decision could have been removed for weeks or months. The official said that legal teams are evaluating the possibility of transferring the plane to the US Department of Defense.
The issue arose against the background of potential business connections. A person with knowledge of the case noted that Qatar and Boeing will announce a deal this week in which Qatar says it is planning to buy aircraft from Boeing.
For his part Mr. Trump picked up the criticism. “Only a fool would not accept this gift on behalf of our country,” he written On his truth social platform on Tuesday.
The reaction underlines the fact that many people remain skeptical about Qatar and his self -proclaimed transformation.
Critics point out that the role of Qatar as an intermediary for the Gaza conflict is the result of the willingness to make much of Hamas’s best political officials live there. Qatari officials often note that the United States had asked them to host Hamas leaders, so that there could be an open communication line.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Israel is one of the critics of the country. “The time has come when Qatar stops playing both parties with his double speech and decides whether it is on the side of civilization or that it is on the side of Hamas Barbarmm,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on social media This month.
Nevertheless, Israeli officials confirmed that a delegation of negotiators would go to Doha on Tuesday, on the eve of Mr Trump’s arrival, to resume discussions about the end of the war in Gaza. Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s most important negotiator in the region, went to Doha separately to participate in the conversations.
Mr. Witkoff spoke heartily about Qatar and notes that it has repeatedly used his influence with Hamas to break through imoners since the war began. That led to various hostages and two ceasefires, the most recent of which collapsed in March.
“They are well motivated. They are good, decent people,” Mr. Witkoff said about the Qataris during an interview in March with Tucker Carlson. “What they want is a mediation that is effective, that reaches a peace chair. And why? Because they are a small nation and they want to be recognized as a peacemaker.”
Qatar has worked hard to create important connections with the United States over the years, including the sale of liquid natural gas, which it has in abundance. It has spent $ 8 billion to develop the Al Udeid Air Base, which the United States has used as an important part of the American military presence in the region.
The Trump organization, led by the children of the president, recently agreed to develop A new golf course and real estate in the Middle East in Qatar in a deal with a government company in Qatari. Qatar also helped to mediate the return of children to Ukraine who was brought to Russia after the invasion in 2022.
Three Western diplomats, all asked to discuss anonymity to discuss sensitive regional diplomacy, said they believed that although the plane was intended for Mr Trump to strengthen the strategic relationship of Qatar with the United States, it was also an attempt to compete with regional rivals.
Qatar fiercely competes with its much larger neighbors, Saudi Aarabia and the United Arab Emirates. This week, Mr. Trump visits all three countries during his trip to the Midden -East, a signal of equality that officials in Qatar has pleased.
During the visit, the Emir and other top Qatari officials are expected to celebrate Mr Trump as the host of the next World Cup in the United States. Mr. Trump is accompanied by Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, the FIFA administrative body.
For many sports fans, Qatar was a little known country until it was safeguarded by the World Cup, the most popular event in Global Sports.
The surprising victory of Qatar in the World Cup offer context, often mentioned one of the dirtiest in sports history, relied on the small, thumb -shaped peninsula that could handle the greatest weapon: cash. Qatar, which denied powerful accusations of bribery in the trial, explores his rivals, including the United States, to convince members of FIFA, of whom would later be sued for accusations of corruption, to choose the desert state as a host.
The country was also criticized for the treatment of employees who helped to build and operate the world cup location. A Report in 2024 insisted on compensation for employees who were injured and for the families of those who died.
The structure of the World Cup placed Qatar on the map, which would make it a fame on which it would trust one of the biggest challenges in its history – a dispute with his Gulf -Buren who considered Qataris a threat to their existence.
Despite its much smaller army, Qatar succeeded in resisting a diplomatic and economic blockade that began in 2017, when Saudi Arabia and various other neighbors accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, breaking tires and forbid Qatar to forbid his country or airspace. The dispute was only resolved in 2021.
When searching for the World Cup, Qatar spent enormous amounts on Public Relations Consultants and Western Surrogates to argue. As a host of the games and a large football investor offered a form of protection, without which it would have been much more vulnerable to the economic damage caused by the blockade, regional experts said at the time.
Qatar, which is still a FIFA sponsor, has continued to spend on sport and uses it for global influence. The businessman Nasser Al Khelaifi, a former Tennis partner of the Emir, has become one of the most powerful men in European football.
Despite the various criticism of Qatar, Daniel Benaim, who deputy assistant assistant for Arabian Peninsula Affairs was under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the relationship a valuable one for the United States, in general.
“None of these countries has a monopoly on vice or virtue, including Qatar, and each offers various strengths, obligations and priorities when it comes to promoting a wide range of American interests,” said Mr Benaim.
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