The Change That Went "Boom"

This guy asks a fair question.

trump went from calling Qatar a "funder of terrorism" to announcing that the US will host a Qatari Air Force facility on a US base.

What changed???

— Covie (@covie_93) October 10, 2025

The tweeter was responding to the news from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on October 10 that

“Today we’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatar Emiri air force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho,” Hegseth told reporters. “It’s just another example of our partnership.”

Hegseth said that the facility would host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots.By June of 2017, there already were more than 11,000 USA and coalition forces at an airbase in Qatar, described here as "the center for US air operations over Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan." Nonetheless, President Trump, in the very uncharacteristic role as truth teller, decided "the time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding.... and its extremist ideology."

However, it was more than that because

the Trump Organization has several active projects in the Gulf region -- including some that have launched in the months since Trump returned to office -- suggesting that his self-imposed moratorium has dissipated.

Trump's visit to the United Arab Emirates, for example, comes just over a week after the Trump Organization announced the development of an 80-floor residential building and club called the Trump International Hotel & Tower, Dubai.

At a launch party for the project last week, an executive of Dar Global, the development firm partnering with the Trump Organization, said in a highly produced social media clip that the project "is perfectly positioned to capture Dubai's growth, offering investors the rare chance to be part of a global success -- powered by the Trump name and Dar Global's expertise."

And last week, the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, announced that an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm would be making a major $2 billion investment in the firm.

USD1, World Liberty Financial's so-called "stablecoin" -- a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value -- is expected to be used to complete Emirati investment firm MGX's $2 billion investment transaction in crypto exchange Binance, ABC News reported.

In Qatar, Trump will arrive just two weeks after his son Eric Trump inked a deal to develop a $5.5 billion golf club just north of Doha, called the Trump International Golf Club, Simaisima, which will include "an 18-hole golf course, exclusive clubhouse, and Trump-branded villas," according to plans.

And in Saudi Arabia, three Trump Organization projects are currently underway, including two residential projects and a golf course. The development firm they've partnered with for many of these regional projects, Dar Global, reportedly has close ties to the Saudi government.

Trump also recently hosted a high-profile golf tournament for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour at his Trump National Doral resort near Miami.

The President bought a great deal of criticism from his MAGA base for having inked a deal which some interpret as being a base for Qatar in the Mountain West. Perhaps that was the intention of the Administration, because it has diverted attention from this:

President Trump this week signed an executive order vowing to use all measures - including the US military - to defend the Gulf state of Qatar.

The text says Washington will view any armed attack on the tiny energy-rich nation as a threat to the Unites States itself and will "take all lawful and appropriate measures - including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military - to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability".

The order amounts to an extraordinary security pact between America and a key Arab ally, almost mirroring aspects of a NATO alliance.

Between the security pact and the air force facility, the President suddenly and radically changed his attitude toward a nation he once noted sided with terrorists and which he launched a punitive embargo against. There is method behind his madness because

Trump didn’t object when Israel attacked Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iran.

That changed suddenly after Israeli fighter jets launched 10 missiles at a residential building in the Qatari capital of Doha in early September. Hegseth said that the facility would host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots.

The building in Doha housed Hamas political leaders and their families who at the time were engaged in peace talks with the Qataris serving as mediators. While the Hamas officials survived the attack, the strike killed six people, including a Qatari security official, and injured several others, including civilians.

Trump immediately took to Truth Social to say he was “unhappy” with the Israeli operation and denounced the strike on Qatar, which he called a “close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace.” Suddenly, Trump was facing pressure from his allies in the Middle East.

When Israel bombed Qatar, the pro-Palestinian crowd predictably blasted Tel Aviv while the pro-Netanyahu crowd generally remained silent, in part because their lord and savior was displeased with the operation. It was an unpopular move in the USA.

A few weeks later, a peace agreement, with leadership from Washington and Doha, abruptly arises. That was no coincidence. The leaders of all Muslim nations (Arab plus Persian Iran) stood up and took notice. We are not safe. If Israel believes it needs to strike terrorists anywhere, the country will strike anywhere. That could be in Doha or any other town in the Middle East, and their leaders have welcomed the peace plan.

These nations wanted to stay involved. Now with the attack near Doha, they are involve, and waiting on the sidelines- or what they believed were the sidelines- is no longer an option. They've come to the stark realization that there is only one side in the Middle East to tilt toward, and that is not Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, or Hezbollah, which Israel continues to target in Lebanon.

The Israel-Hamas peace deal may not stick- probably won't, but it wouldn't even exist were it not for the Jewish state's failed effort to kill Hamas negotiators in Qatar. Such are the ironies of Middle East conflict.

 

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