Recommendations of the Editorial team
On Friday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho will host pilots from Qatar’s Emiri Air Force who will be trained there on F-15 jets. This decision sparked resentment among MAGA supporters who distrust the Qatari government and mistakenly believed that Qatar was establishing its own base in the United States.
“Today we announce a commitment to build a Qatar Emiri Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho,” said Hegseth, flanked by Qatari Defense Minister Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Some in the MAGA movement interpreted this as an announcement that Qatar would get its own military base rather than use a facility at an existing U.S. base.
When asked to explain the decision on Fox News on Sunday, JD Vance said: “This is largely a hoax. We continue to have relationships with countries we work with. Sometimes their pilots train at our bases, sometimes we train together, sometimes we work together in other ways. The claim that there will be a Qatari base on U.S. soil is simply false. We continue to work with our Arab partners together to secure peace, but we will not allow any other country to establish a real base on American soil. As is often the case, there is misinformation here.”
Outrage in the MAGA camp
Hegseth’s announcement sparked significant backlash in the MAGA universe. “I never thought Republicans would give terror-financing Qatari Muslims a MILITARY BASE on US soil so they could murder Americans,” wrote far-right influencer Laura Loomer on X. “I don’t think I’ll vote in 2026.”
Following the criticism, Hegseth issued an “important clarification,” writing on Loomer responded by saying, “A jihadist in a suit is still a jihadist. This is a threat to our national security.”
Steve Bannon, formerly Trump’s chief strategist in the White House, also spoke critically to Newsweek: There should never be a military base of a foreign power on America’s sacred soil. Conservative radio host Mark Levin wrote: “I could never have imagined something like this. Not only did we agree to go to war for Qatar, but now they are building an air base in our country. Shocking.”
He added: “This is very serious… A new facility within our base. They are training their pilots with their jets that they bought from us. Even though they [dem Terroristen Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] enabled the escape, planned the attacks of September 11th and pumped billions into our country to promote Islamism and anti-Americanism. For most of us, this is outrageous.”
Foreign training on US soil
It’s not the first time a foreign nation has used training facilities in the United States. Singapore, for example, runs several programs, including Exercise Valiant Mark, in which, according to the Singapore Army, “US training grounds provide the perfect environment for large-scale vehicle, mechanized and combined arms maneuvers, as well as integrated air-land fire exercises.” Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain have also been training at US bases for years. Conversely, US forces train at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
Political double standards
However, the decision is particularly explosive for the political right. Many conservatives, including Trump himself, have repeatedly criticized Qatar for allegedly financing terrorism. “The nation of Qatar has a history of financing terrorism at a very high level,” Trump said at the White House in 2017, calling on the country to end its support for extremist ideologies.
In his second term, however, Trump has maintained close ties with the Qatari government. Earlier this year, Qatar gave him a $400 million luxury jet that will be converted into the next Air Force One at a cost of almost $1 billion – a move that also sparked sharp criticism. Security circles fear that the plane could pose a risk through possible listening or tracking devices.
New security guarantees for Qatar
Most recently, Trump signed an executive order giving Qatar the same protection as NATO allies. An attack on Qatar would therefore be viewed as an attack on the USA and would result in “diplomatic, economic and, if necessary, military measures”. As early as 2022, President Joe Biden described Qatar as one of the USA’s most important non-NATO allies, thereby laying the foundation for close military cooperation.
The Trump Organization, which is run by his sons, also maintains close economic ties with Qatar. In May, it signed a deal to build a golf course, golf club and luxury villas on the coast north of Doha – the first foreign deal since Trump’s re-election.