As he flew to the Middle East to rejoice his diplomatic victory on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, President Donald Trump heaped reward on one ally in explicit: Qatar.
“Qatar was a tremendous help to getting this done. I hope people can realize that,” Trump informed reporters on Air Force One. “It was very tough and very dangerous for Qatar. They were very brave.”
The Gulf nation has lengthy been a dealer in diplomatic negotiations however its key function as mediator, together with Egypt, in the Gaza talks additional cemented its stature in the eyes of the US president.
In an indication of the nice and cozy relationship inside his first 10 months in workplace, Trump received a plane meant for use as Air Force One from Doha and the president signed an govt order giving Qatar an unprecedented bilateral protection pact with the US following an Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in its capital Doha.
But Trump’s effusive reward was a far cry from his stance on Qatar in the early months of his first time period, when he accused the nation of funding terrorism in the area.
US officers, regional sources, and consultants say the vastly improved relations are because of the improvement of private relations between Trump and members of his shut interior circle and Qatari leaders, a gentle marketing campaign of lobbying, and the nation’s means to ship as an efficient interlocutor between the US and an enormous variety of gamers together with the Taliban, the Houthis, Iran and Hamas.
“I can’t recall any country that’s had the turnaround that Qatar has,” stated Ben Freeman, who tracks overseas affect on the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Trump signaled the significance of his relationship with Qatar to his second time period by together with the small nation on the primary abroad journey after his inauguration.
Trump instantly tapped into the relationships that had developed throughout his first time period and had been strengthened by enterprise offers that his family and friends had carried out with Qatar in current years, defined present US officers and regional diplomats.
The Trump household’s enterprise ties to the Middle East have greater than tripled because the president’s first time period in workplace, a NCS tally of the deals discovered in May. Earlier this yr, the Trump Organization introduced plans for a Trump-branded golf resort in Qatar that was supported by a agency backed by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.
The Qatari Emir additionally maintained direct contact with Trump throughout his years out of workplace, which is one thing not all different world leaders did, a supply acquainted with the matter stated.
The familiarity made for productive, reliable and blunt interactions, sources stated.
Freeman famous that Trump “wants to be seen as this great dealmaker” and win the Nobel Peace Prize, and Qatar is seen as with the ability to “help him get done on the international stage what he wants to get done.”
Qatar helped to draft the 21-point plan for peace in Gaza that Witkoff initially shared with Arab and Muslin nations in New York, which led to pivotal discussions that laid the groundwork for the hostage launch and ceasefire which got here simply weeks later, a supply stated.
And then, when final week’s high-stakes negotiations occurred in Egypt, Trump’s high envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner met privately with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya and a senior Qatari official, a gathering which led to a breakthrough in negotiations, in response to two sources acquainted with the matter. It got here as Hamas was searching for reassurances that Israelis wouldn’t reignite the struggle after the Israeli hostages held by the group had been launched.
The Qataris sought out Witkoff and Kushner for the assembly, first reported by Axios, which was pivotal in securing the settlement to launch hostages and put a ceasefire into impact later that night time.
“Plain and simple, that agreement would not have been accomplished without the Qataris,” stated an administration official. “The Qataris were critical in facilitating discussions with Hamas that were crucial in securing a final agreement in Egypt.”
Trump spoke extremely of the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani once they signed an settlement geared toward regional peace alongside different regional leaders.
“His Highness Sheikh Tamim is respected by everybody. He’s respected by everybody, and in the most positive way. Not only because of power, because of his heart. He’s got a tremendous heart and he’s a great leader, and his country loves him,” Trump stated.
Still, Qatar stays a controversial matter inside Trump’s orbit, with some key allies of the president voicing deep considerations in regards to the nation’s rising affect.
Among the loudest critics of Qatar is far-right activist Laura Loomer, an influential determine inside the administration who slammed the announcement Qatar can be allowed to construct an Air Force coaching facility in Idaho final week.
Trump’s Republican allies in Congress have additionally been left in the darkish, at instances, about Qatar’s dealings with the administration, even on issues that immediately affect the states they symbolize.
Idaho’s complete GOP-led congressional delegation, which incorporates chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jim Risch, and its Republican Governor, solely realized that the administration had formally agreed the Air Force coaching deal when it was introduced publicly by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in response to a supply acquainted with the matter.
Qatar’s relationship with the Trump administration was additionally examined earlier this yr when the US didn’t notify them earlier than Israel carried out a navy strike in opposition to Hamas leaders in Doha. US officers scrambled to include the potential fallout from the strike by reassuring Qatar it, too, was left in the darkish by the Israelis, regardless of proof high administration officers had been informed earlier than bombs had been dropped.
Ultimately, Trump pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize to Qatar — which he did by way of cellphone from the Oval Office throughout a current journey to the White House. Sources acquainted with the incident informed NCS that the administration’s failure to inform Qatar forward of time, given its central function in negotiations, initially raised severe questions on US credibility on the time. But when Trump pressured Netanyahu’s apology, the “answer came back very firmly” that the US was severe about sustaining the US-Qatar alliance, in response to a regional supply stated.
“You saw the picture, Netanyahu reading from a paper. The picture talks more than the pen,” the regional supply stated, noting the manager order bolstering the alliance between the US and Qatar.
The relationship between Trump and Qatar began on tense footing throughout his first time period.
“Qatar’s influence in the US in 2016 was nominal at best,” Freeman informed NCS.
In June 2017, initially of a diplomatic disaster sparked by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain chopping diplomatic ties and imposing a blockade on Qatar, Trump lambasted Doha.
“We had a decision to make,” Trump stated, describing conversations with Saudi Arabia and different Gulf international locations. “Do we take the easy road or do we finally take a hard but necessary action? We have to stop the funding of terrorism.”
The aggressive remarks perplexed even his then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who requested aides following the speech how the feedback had ended up in the president’s speech, in response to a supply acquainted with the interplay.
Tillerson and high navy officers then made it a precedence in the next months to temporary Trump on the robust US-Qatar relationship on each navy and diplomatic fronts, significantly offering particulars about Qatar being house to Al-Udied which is the biggest US navy base in the area.
Tillerson, a former Exxon govt, additionally had significantly shut relations with Qataris after having carried out power offers with the Gulf nation.
Around the identical time, in response to Freedman, Doha “sought to flip the script really quick and went on a lobbying and PR firm hiring blitz.”
“They started hiring Republican heavyweights from (former Attorney General) John Ashcroft’s firm, several other firms, Ballard, that were very close to the President,” Freeman defined. Attorney General Pam Bondi was a registered lobbyist for Qatar throughout Trump’s first time period.
But over time the blockade made Trump extra receptive to Qatar, a former administration official stated. The Gulf nations claimed the blockade was an effort to use financial stress on Qatar because of its alleged assist for terrorism, however because it continued Trump fearful it was stifling progress and financial ties in the area, the official stated.
Trump was additionally irritated on the different regional gamers for placing the blockade into place with out giving the US advance discover – a transfer they took simply weeks after Trump had visited Saudi Arabia, which was the primary abroad journey of his administration.
“Trump gives people under attack the benefit if the doubt, he also felt blindsided by the move which he did not like,” stated a former Trump administration official.
Less than a yr after his inflammatory White House remarks, in April 2018, Trump hosted the Qatari Emir on the White House.
When the Emir visited Washington for a second time in 2019, administration officers observed that the 2 developed private rapport, a number of sources stated. Trump went to a Treasury Department dinner with the Emir which he had not been scheduled to attend – reflecting an actual warming in relations, sources stated. At that point, Doha was internet hosting talks between the US and the Taliban as Trump pushed for an finish to the struggle in Afghanistan.
“Things were fine, but they had not gone from opponents to friends,” stated John Bolton, Trumps’ nationwide safety adviser on the time.
That modified, Bolton recalled, after the signing of the Doha settlement between the Taliban and the Afghan authorities which set into movement the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Trump’s high Taliban negotiator, Zalmay Khalilizad, spent copious quantities of time with the Taliban in Doha, conferences that paved the way in which for the settlement to be signed.
“That’s really the point where they moved, started moving towards the relationship they have now,” Bolton stated. “The American president had asked them to do something and they were doing it.”
Trump himself has chalked up the distinction to having not likely identified the nation in 2017 when he first became president.
“I didn’t really know them very well,” Trump informed studies of his preliminary tackle the small however wealthy nation in 2017. “As I got to know them, I got to understand them, and I got to realize that they’re in the middle of they are right in the middle of everything. Other countries are there, but they’re an hour and an hour-and-a-half away. A big difference.”
In Trump’s second time period there have been a number of cases the place the administration has gone again to Qatar when different intermediaries haven’t delivered.
During Gaza talks earlier this yr, the administration at one level tried a brand new tact placing a Palestinian-American who was not a authorities official in cost of the talks with Hamas to attempt to drive a Gaza ceasefire. But when that strategy failed to provide outcomes, they shifted again to Qatar because the important interlocutor with the group.
The same state of affairs unfolded when it got here to efforts to attract Iran into a brand new nuclear deal. The Trump administration initially relied on Oman to facilitate months of oblique talks with Iran led by Witkoff, however when these talks fell aside the administration turned again to Qatar to have interaction in dialogue with Iran. Ultimately the deal by no means manifested, and Trump carried out strikes on Iran’s nuclear websites. But the significance of Qatar as a trusted go-between had been cemented as soon as once more.
Now, advancing the Gaza settlement to the subsequent part which would come with de-militarizing Hamas is about to additional check Qatar’s means to function a back-channel with Hamas. White House Spokesperson Anna Kelly stated that the Qataris are “invested in ensuring that the deal is implemented.”
But the breadth of efforts that the US and Qatar are engaged on are additionally widespread. Dr. Majed Al Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cited the wide selection of points the nation is engaged on with Trump.
“We are working right now with the administration on DRC-Rwanda, working with them on Venezuela, working with them on Colombia, working with them on the myriad of issues, some of them I can’t mention right now, all related to peace facilitation,” he stated on the Concordia Summit occasion on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in late September.
“That appreciation of the relationship in Qatar does not go unnoticed,” Al Ansari continued.
“This goes beyond any individual, but working with President Trump, working with this administration very closely, is something that has brought a lot of results,” he stated. “It’s a relationship that is beneficial for the region as a whole and for the world.”
NCS’s Zachary Cohen contributed reporting.