U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani present a signed agreement as they meet at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 10, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday announced an agreement to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at a U.S. Air Force Base in Idaho.
Hegeth said the facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base will allow pilots from Qatar’s air force to train with American military personnel.
The Defense secretary made the announcement at a Pentagon press conference with Qatari Defense Minister Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Hegseth said the facility will “host a contingent a Qatari F-15’s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability, it’s just another example of our partnership.”
Qatar is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. The Al-Udeid Air Base, whose 10,000 or so service members make it the largest American military installation in the Middle East, is located in Qatar, near the capital of Doha.
Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist who has influence with President Donald Trump, blasted the announcement.
“Never thought I’d see Republicans give terror financing Muslims from Qatar a MILITARY BASE on US soil so they can murder Americans,” Loomer wrote on X.
“I don’t think I’ll be voting in 2026. I cannot in good conscience make any excuses for the harboring of jihadis. This is where I draw the line,” Loomer wrote.
Trump himself in 2017 said, “The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” That comment came during a dispute between Qatar and other Arab countries, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain, who had blockaded Qatar over claims that it had backed extremist Muslim groups.
Qatar has denied financing terrorists.
The Mountain Home Air Force Base currently has a contingent of F-15 fighter jets from Singapore’s air force stationed there as part of a training program for that nation’s pilots.
The Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Hegseth’s announcement.
The announcement is another sign of the deepening of the relationship between the Trump administration and Qatar.
In September, after Israel executed an airstrike on senior leaders of the Hamas terror group in Doha, Trump signed an executive order “assuring the security of the state of Qatar.”
Earlier this year, the U.S accepted a Boeing 747 jet as a gift from the Qatari royal family. Trump has said he wants that jet, valued at $400 million, converted for use as Air Force One, the presidential aircraft.
NBC News has reported that the jet is expected to be handed over to Trump’s future presidential library after he leaves the White House in January 2029.
A Pentagon spokesperson told CNBC that Hegseth accepted the luxury plane “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.”
The gift drew criticism from Democrats and others who said the jet looked like a bribe to Trump.
Trump’s family business has also been expanding its footprint in the Middle East — including a golf resort in Doha with Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund’s real estate arm, as well as a Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai, a Trump Tower located in Jeddah, and a hotel that is under construction in Muscat.
