Like Wednesday the sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, hosts President Trump in Doha on Wednesday, will be the culmination of an offensive of successful charm by the Gulf Emrato who now seems likely to include the promise of a luxury jetliner to Mr. Trump-Senza sting attached.
The president, who described Emir as a “great gentleman” and a “my friend”, is granting the honor to host one of the first foreign visits of his second term. As for the plane, the president says he would be “stupid” not to accept such a nice gift despite strong objections, not only by the Democrats but by some of his most fervent sorceress supporters.
It is a dramatic turnaround for a small country of the Persian Gulf that Trump derived eight years ago as “a terrorist lender at a very high level”. At that time, he collaborated with the bitter bitter bitters in the region – who imposed a punitive block on Doha – in asking for the end of what he described as the “extremist ideology” of the country.
Since then, Qatar has continued to try to transform its reputation into the global community, partly by spending millions of dollars in lobbyists in Washington and other capital. Among those lobbyists there was Pam Bondi, now Prosecutor General of Mr. Trump.
A large part of the renovation of the image of the Qatar was his guest of the Fifa World Cup in 2022. A year later, when the terrorists led by Hamas attacked Israel and months of brutal war started in Gaza, Qatar became a crucial communication line between the militant group and Israel.
“What Qatar is trying to do today is not only to bask in its wealth and be happy for the fact that Trump wants to visit, but also in some way brown to have been able to say” yes, we have returned, “said Simon Henderson, senior member of the Washington Institute for the politics of the Near East.
For Mr. Trump, he said, the plane is important “because he likes large planes and also because he wants a victory for identifiable business – something honors him”.
But the possibility of an Air Force force with a legity of the Qatar has inspired a repercussing among the Americans who are not as confident as Mr. Trump on the generosity of the Qatar or on his reasons.
It is not surprising that the best democrat of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, objected, swearing on Tuesday to block all the judicial appointed of Mr. Trump until the White House answers the questions about the ethical and security branches of the president who accept such a gift and using it as its main means of transport.
The problem also created a rare fracture between Mr. Trump and people in the heart of his political machine.
“Like, please call” America First “in a way that you say you should take bags of money from the Qatar Royals,” said Shapiro sarcastically, a main podcast conservative conductor. “It is not” America before “in any way imaginable.”
Laura Loomer, a right -wing influencer who successfully pressured Mr. Trump to shoot the assistants who considered Sleale with the president, made the idea explode in several social media posts.
“We cannot accept a” gift “of $ 400 million by the jihadists in a jacket and tie,” wrote Mrs. Loomer on Tuesday.
The Qatar has long stated that his financing for Gaza has been approved by Israel and that the money went to humanitarian projects and salaries for the public employees of Gaza. Critics such as Mrs. Loomer refuse that explanation.
He added: “I say that like someone who would take a bullet for Trump. I am so disappointed.”
Mark Levin, conductor of a union radio program and a fierce supporter of Mr. Trump, had an answer from a word to Mrs. Loomer: “Ditto.
A Qatar official said that no decision was made on the donation of the plane and that this decision could be weeks or months later. The official said the legal teams were examining the possibility of transferring the plane to the United States Department of Defense.
The problem arose against the background of potential corporate connections. A person with knowledge of the matter observed that Qatar and Boeing will announce an agreement this week in which Qatar says he intends to buy Boeing planes.
For his part, Mr. Trump shook himself off the criticisms. “Only a fool would not accept this gift on behalf of our country,” he wrote on his social platform of truth on Tuesday.
The reaction emphasizes the fact that many people remain skeptical about Qatar and on its self -proclaimed transformation.
Critics point out that the role of Qatar as Go-Getween for the conflict of Gaza is the result of his will to let many of Hamas's best political officials live there. Qatar officials often notice that the United States had asked them to host Hamas leaders so that there could be an open communication line.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is among the critics of the country. “The time has come for the Qatar to stop playing both sides with its double speech and deciding if it is on the side of civilization or if it is on the side of Hamas barbarism,” wrote Netanyahu on social media this month.
However, Israeli officials confirmed that a delegation of negotiators would go to Doha Tuesday, on the eve of the arrival of Mr. Trump, to resume discussions on the end of the war in Gaza. Steve Witkoff, a leader of Mr. Trump in the region, headed to Doha separately to participate in the interviews.
Mr. Witkoff warmly spoke of Qatar, observing that he repeatedly used his influence with Hamas to break through his storage since war began. This led to several outputs of hostages and two ceased the fire, the most recent has collapsed in March.
“They are well motivated. They are good and decent people,” said Qataris' Witkoff during a March interview with Tucker Carlson. “What they want is an effective mediation, which achieves a peace goal. And why? Because they are a small nation and want to be recognized as a peacemaker.”
Qatar has worked hard to establish important connections with the United States over the years, including the sale of liquefied natural gas, which has in abundance. He spent $ 8 billion to develop Al Udeid air base, which allows the United States to use as a fundamental part of the American military presence in the region.
The Trump organization, led by the president's children, recently agreed to develop a new golf course in the Middle East and a real estate project in Qatar in an agreement involving a company owned by the Qatar government. Qatar also contributed to mediating the return of children to Ukraine who had been brought to Russia after his invasion in 2022.
Three western diplomats, all who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive regional diplomacy, said they believed that while the plane for Mr. Trump had to consolidate the strategic relationship of Qatar with the United States, it was also an attempt to compete with the regional rivals who were taking their multimillionic commitments.
Qatar competes fiercely with its much larger neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Trump is visiting all three nations during his trip to the Middle East this week, a signal of equality that satisfied Qatar officials.
During the visit, Emir and other high Qatar officials should celebrate Mr. Trump as a guest of the next World Cup in the United States. Trump is accompanied to Qatar by Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, football body of football.
For many sports enthusiasts, Qatar was a little known country until the World Cup, the most popular event in global sports.
The surprising victory of Qatar in the context of offers of the World Cup, often called one of the dirtiest in the history of sport, was based on the tiny thumb -shaped peninsula that exercised the greatest weapon that could: cash. Qatar, who vigorously denied the accusations of corruption in the process, canceled his rivals, including the United States, to convince the members of FIFA, many of whom would have been submitted with corruption accusations, to choose the state of the desert as a guest.
The country was also criticized for the treatment of workers who contributed to building and manage the world cup headquarters. A 2024 report urged compensation for injured workers and families of those who died.
The accumulation of the World Cup has put Qatar on the map, giving him an importance on which he would be based in front of one of the major challenges of his history – a dispute with his neighbors of the Gulf that Qatais considered a threat to their very existence.
Despite its much smaller army, Qatar managed to resist a diplomatic and economic block that began in 2017, when Saudi Arabia and many other neighbors accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, cutting ties and banning al Qatar of crossing its land or aerial space. The dispute has not been resolved until 2021.
In looking for the World Cup, Qatar spent great amounts in Public Relations Consultants and Western Surrogates to support his case. Being the guest of the games and an important football investor offered a form of protection, without which it would have been much more vulnerable to the economic damage from the blockade, said regional experts at the moment.
Qatar, who is still a sponsor Fifa, has continued to spend on sport and use it for global influence. The businessman Nasser al Khelaifi, a former Emir tennis partner, has become one of the most powerful men of European football.
Despite the various criticisms directed to Qatar, Daniel Benaim, who was deputy secretary of state for the business of the Arab peninsula under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., defined the useful report for the United States, overall.
“None of these countries have a monopoly of vice or virtue, including Qatar, and everyone brings different strengths, liabilities and priorities when it comes to making a wide range of American interests advance,” said Benaim.