Hegseth Announces a ‘Qatari Emeri Air Force Facility’ Is to Be Built at U.S. Airbase in Idaho
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that the U.S. will soon host a Qatari air force facility in Idaho as part of the new defense treaty the Trump administration has agreed to with the controversial Gulf state.
“Today, we’re announcing a letter of acceptance in building a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho,” Hegseth announced alongside his Qatari counterpart, Minister of Defense Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
In late September, President Donald Trump signed an executive order committing the U.S. to defend Qatar in the event of an attack. The order read, in part, “The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States.”
Hegseth’s announcement added some additional military cooperation to the agreement. He began by noting we are “signing an additional agreement here with Qatar, and it’s been an interesting couple of weeks, I will say. Your Excellency. Yes. We’re glad to welcome you here. We’re grateful for the strong partnership that we have, the way you support our troops at Al Udeid” – referring to the massive U.S. military base in Qatar.
“Your Excellency, the line of communication we’ve had together, which has been robust ever since the beginning of this administration, and then especially since the events that have transpired over the last month. We want to thank you. I also want to thank you for the release of the Americans detained in Afghanistan, the American Amir Amiri, on September 28th,” Hegseth continued, adding:
Qatar mediated that, just like you have been a core part of what has unfolded in Gaza—a historic moment. No one other than President Trump could have achieved the peace that we believe will be a lasting peace in Gaza, and Qatar played a substantial role from the beginning, working with our folks to ensure that came about. So I want to thank you for that historic peace.
I look forward to joining the President as that gets—it’s already been delivered, but as that’s formally signed as well. And I’m also proud that today we’re announcing—we’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho. The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability. It’s just another example of our partnership. And I hope you know, Your Excellency, that you can count on us.
We saw in Midnight Hammer, in those moments when we needed support in the region, Qatar was there without a doubt, without a blink, and that has meant a great deal. I’ve had the opportunity to see that firsthand operationally. I want to thank you. I want to thank your country for that, for hosting our troops, and it’s wonderful to welcome you to the Pentagon.
Qatar has long been a source of controversy in U.S. politics as the gas-rich country both hosts a key military installation and is an important U.S. ally in the Middle East, but at the same time plays host to Hamas leadership and is an ally of Iran. Qatar also sparked a firestorm of criticism this year when it gifted Trump a luxury jet to be used as Air Force One and later donated to his presidential library. Critics questioned what Qatar would want in return for the “flying palace” — estimated to be worth over $400 million before a billion-dollar retrofit to use as Air Force One.
Watch the clip above via Fox News.
