Pentagon On The Defensive As Qatar’s Access To US Soil Under New Defence Deal Draws Fire From Trump's MAGA Allies

The United States has approved Qatar’s plan to establish an air force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, marking a significant expansion of their security partnership, Financial Times reported.

The new complex will host Qatari fighter jets and pilots for joint training with US Air Force personnel at the Mountain Home base in south-west Idaho.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Qatari Defence Minister Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani signed the deal during a signing ceremony at the Pentagon on Friday (10 October).

The move follows President Donald Trump’s recent executive order assuring Qatar’s security, declaring that any attack on the Gulf ally would be treated as a direct threat to US peace and security.

Trump’s move came a month after Israel launched a targeted strike on a building in Doha in an attempt to kill senior officials from the Palestinian terror group Hamas, infuriating Trump.

Qatar has been a key mediator in the efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas amid the Gaza conflict.

During Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington, the Israeli prime minister publicly apologized to Trump for the Doha strike.

Pro-Trump MAGA influencer Laura Loomer criticised the Pentagon’s decision, calling it an alarming move that allows Qatar to train pilots on US soil.

“So we agreed to go to war for Qatar and now we are letting them train pilots on US soil? The Qatari influence on the Trump administration is totally out of control,” Loomer wrote on X on Friday.

"Why is there so much Islamic influence on the Trump administration?” she added.

“Will the next 9/11 be done with F-15s? I guess we are going to find out," she said.

According to the Pentagon, the agreement permits up to 12 Qatari F-15QA fighter jets and around 300 Qatari and US air force staff to operate from the Idaho base for a decade, with an option to extend the duration.

Hegseth said the deployment would “enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability,” describing it as a testament to US-Qatar cooperation.

Qatar’s defence minister praised the deal, calling it a reflection of the two nations’ “deep defence relationship” and their commitment to shared security objectives.

Qatar, a longstanding US ally, already hosts America’s largest Middle Eastern base, Al Udeid, which came under Iranian missile fire during the June conflict between Israel and Iran.

Earlier this year, Qatar gifted the US a $400 million luxury aircraft designated for modification as a new Air Force One.

While foreign forces often train in the US, the establishment of a dedicated foreign facility is rare.

Mountain Home currently accommodates Singaporean jets as part of training programme, but Qatar’s base marks an uncommon precedent.

The Pentagon said the action “is necessary to help ensure the combat readiness and enhanced performance of this partner nation in the event that multinational conflicts arise”.

The Qatari jets would be “operating as a separate but integrated fighter squadron” under the command of the 366th Fighter Wing’s commander.

However, after facing backlash on social media from Trump's MAGA base, Hegseth issued a clarification, saying , "The U.S. military has a long-standing partnership w/ Qatar, including today’s announced cooperation w/ F-15QA aircraft. However, to be clear, Qatar will not have their own base in the United States—nor anything like a base. We control the existing base, like we do with all partners".

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