In this friendship, money talks and strategic interests walk. America’s embrace of Qatar has always been a strange fit, but recently, President Donald Trump has doubled down, transforming this unholy alliance into something approaching the profane (Read more at JNS).
"The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. "The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States," he added (Read more at ABC News).
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is planning to at least double its annual US investments in the next decade, its CEO said on Tuesday, after the fund has already pledged to invest $500 billion in the US economy over the next 10 years (Read more at Arabnews).
Raytheon has signed a $1-billion agreement with Qatar to deliver the Fixed Site – Low, Slow, Integrated Defeat System (FS-LIDS), making Doha the system’s first international customer. The agreement includes production work in the US, contributing to engineering and advanced manufacturing. The technology is designed to detect, track, and neutralize small, slow-moving drones (Read more at Defense Post).
Schumer introduced the "Presidential Airlift Security Act" after news last week that President Donald Trump planned to accept a $400 million airplane from Qatar, which legal experts said raised a raft of questions about the scope of laws that relate to gifts from foreign governments and are intended to thwart corruption and improper influence (Read more at AOL).
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Qatar will invest $10 billion in coming years in the Al Udeid Air Base southwest of the country's capital Doha, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East. In a speech to U.S. troops at the base during his tour of the Gulf, Trump also said Qatari defence purchases signed on Wednesday are worth $42 billion (Read more at Awani).
The agreements include a $96 billion deal with Qatar Airways to buy up to 210 Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787 Dreamliner and 777X airplanes with GE Aerospace engines, the fact sheet said. They also include a statement of intent that could lead to $38 billion in investments at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base and other air defense and maritime security capabilities, it said (Read more at Investing).
Top MAGA influencers Ben Shapiro, Laura Loomer and Mark Levin broke sharply with President Trump Monday over his decision to accept a $400 million private jet from the Qatari government. The revolt marks one of the few times since Trump's return to power that key voices in his base have publicly questioned his judgment — revealing cracks in a MAGA coalition built on unwavering loyalty (Read more at Axios).
Despite concerns raised over the president accepting the $400m gift, Mr Trump told reporters on Monday: "I think it's a great gesture from Qatar." The jet is currently sitting at San Antonio International Airport. It is the same plane the US leader toured at Palm Beach International Airport on 15 February (Read more at Skynews).
Trump's orbit during his first and second administration featured advisers with ties to Qatar. For example, Trump picked Pam Bondi for attorney general, who reportedly made more than $100,000 a month lobbying for Qatar. Son-in-law Jared Kushner's private equity firm, which he formed after leaving the first Trump White House, has taken money from wealth funds in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE (Read more at Axios).
The president might end up with a luxury jumbo jet, but it won’t happen this week. ABC News reported earlier Sunday that a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet would become available for President Donald Trump as Air Force One and then donated to his presidential library foundation so he could use it after leaving office. The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made (Read more at Politico).
Qatar’s International Search and Rescue Group began the search on Wednesday, with the help of several US nationals who wished to remain anonymous. So far, three unidentified bodies have been found by the group, according to the sources. The mission’s focus was on locating the body of aid worker Peter Kassig, who was beheaded by ISIL in 2014 in Dabiq, northern Syria (Read more at Aljazeera).
Qatar, which is among Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's strongest international backers, had been reluctant to act without the blessing of Washington, which imposed sanctions when ousted leader Bashar al-Assad was in power. Two people briefed on the matter told Reuters that Qatar had been informed about the U.S. greenlight and said the U.S. Treasury Department's office of Foreign Assets Control was expected to imminently provide a letter confirming the initiative was exempt from U.S. sanctions (Read more at Global Banking and Finance).
The Trump International Golf Course and Trump Villas will be part of the Simaisma beachside development 40 minutes north of the Qatari capital Doha. The $5.5 billion Simaisma development, led by Qatari Diar, is designed as a 7 km-long mega entertainment resort district, anchored by an 18-hole golf course and a Land of Legends theme park (Read more at AOL).
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress,” the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement. The sale “will improve Qatar’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing timely intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, target acquisition, counter-land, and counter-surface sea capabilities for its security and defense,” DSCA said (Read more at Defense Post).
White House envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Doha on Tuesday evening in an effort to broker a new hostage-release and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The talks would be the first since President Trump took office and since the original agreement between Israel and Hamas that established a 42-day ceasefire in Gaza (Read more at Axios)
Qatar is holding off providing Syria's new rulers with funds to increase public sector pay due to uncertainty over whether the transfers would breach US sanctions. While the previous US administration issued a sanctions exemption on January 6 to allow transactions with Syria's governing institutions for six months, Qatar does not see this as enough to cover payments it would need to make via the central bank to finance the salary increase (Read more at Business Standard).
Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, took part in a phone call on Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the continuation of their joint mediation efforts in Gaza, the Qatari foreign ministry said. The men expressed hope that a ceasefire deal reaches its second phase and turns into a permanent ceasefire (Read more at Reuters).
To put it very simply, Qatar is willing to be (almost) everyone’s friend. It hosts Hamas and Taliban representatives along with a U.S. embassy and a U.S. military base, while even Israeli officials stop by now and then. Qatar’s open-door policy has made it a go-to mediator in many of the world’s conflicts; indeed, mediation is a pillar of Qatar’s foreign policy, giving it outsized influence. But that approach also has left Qatar open to questions in the U.S., Israel and beyond about whether it is truly a friend to anyone. Some argue the U.S. shouldn’t depend on Qatar as a partner or an intermediary (Read more at Politico).
The initial diplomatic signals from President-elect Trump’s team suggest a shift, with reports indicating a call for Qatar to reinstate Hamas leaders to Doha. This starkly contrasts with recent moves by the Biden administration, which pressured Qatar to distance itself from Hamas. The Trump administration must address Qatar’s international positioning. As host of the 2025 U.N. anti-corruption summit, Qatar has portrayed itself as a global leader in combating corruption. The administration should challenge this narrative by ensuring accountability for Doha’s domestic and international actions. For Trump, the path forward is clear: Qatar must earn its privileges as a U.S. ally. A failure to reset the relationship would allow Qatar to continue benefiting from U.S. trust while undermining shared values and priorities (Read more at ASEAN News).
Burns is due to meet Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Doha (Read more at Dohanews).
Asked about the impact of Trump’s return to the White House on Qatar-US relations, particularly in energy, Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said oil and gas projects were multi-decade plans and “survive governments”, but later added he thought Trump was “good for business” (Read more at Business Recorder).
The Gulf emirate, along with the United States and Egypt, had been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release. But in November, Doha announced it had put its mediation on hold, saying it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed "willingness and seriousness". "We have sensed, after the election, that the momentum is coming back," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told the Doha Forum for political dialogue (Read more at France24).
The meeting focused on strengthening the strategic relations between Qatar and the United States, as well as discussing the latest regional and international developments of mutual concern, particularly the situation in Gaza, the occupied Palestinian territories, and Lebanon (Read more at Qatar Tribune).
Qatar was once the top LNG supplier to Japan and South Korea, but buyers are showing preference for supplies from the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. These suppliers all offer shorter-term contracts and unlike Qatar do not restrict the cargoes' final destination. This gives buyers flexibility to sell cargoes elsewhere in the future if they no longer need the cargoes. US sellers, ADNOC and Oman generally offer LNG volumes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, which allows buyers to resell cargoes. Deals are usually linked to US natural gas prices at the Henry Hub benchmark, which tend to be cheaper than contracts linked to oil (Read more at Business Standard).
As part of their attempts to avoid being caught in the crossfire, Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar are also refusing to let Israel fly over their airspace for any attack on Iran and have conveyed this to Washington. The moves by the Gulf states come after a diplomatic push by Tehran to persuade its Gulf neighbors to use their influence with Washington amid rising concerns Israel could target Iran's oil production facilities (Read more at Daily Sabah).
It allows visa-free travel by Qatari citizens for up to 90 days. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State said in a statement that Qatar is the first Gulf country to be admitted to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, commending Doha for meeting the strict security requirements to join (Read more at Aljazeera).
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday said he had met with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at his Florida resort (Read more at Dunyanews).
The three leaders said there is a framework agreement on the table and only its implementation details need to be finalized. They have called on the two sides to resume urgent talks on Thursday, August 15 in (Doha or Cairo) to fill all remaining gaps and begin implementing the agreement without any delay (Read more at Axios).
Analysts say expelling Hamas leaders from Qatar will not help Israel because the Hamas leadership in Gaza is making the decisions over a possible ceasefire. Doha has hosted Hamas’ political leadership at the US’ request since 2012 and provided billions in cash to the Hamas authorities in recent years with the approval of the US and Israel (Read more at The Cradle).
Qatar’s embassy in Washington said t it has provided assistance to Gaza in two ways with the “full coordination” of the Israeli government. The first is a Qatar-funded fuel purchasing scheme to generate electricity in Gaza, and the second is a project in partnership with the World Food Programme that provides “$100 per month to the poorest families in Gaza”. (Read more at Aljazeera)
CIA director is to travel to Cairo this weekend for talks with the head of Israel's Mossad and top Qatari and Egyptian officials to break the deadlock in negotiations. The current proposal could lead to a 6-week ceasefire and the release of 40 hostages — female soldiers and other women, men over the age of 50 and in critical medical conditions. In return, Israel would release roughly 700 Palestinian prisoners, including about 100 who are serving life sentences for killing Israelis (Read more at Axios).
William Burns secretly arrived in Egypt yesterday and headed to Doha today for a meeting with Qatar’s prime minister. He will next travel to Israel (Read more at Aljazeera).
