- Air Force facility in Idaho to house pilots and F-15 fighter jets.
- The signing is just another example of a partnership between the United States and Qatar: Hegseth.
- Hegseth thanks Qatar for its “substantial role” in the agreement between Hamas and Israel
WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that Qatar will be allowed to build an air force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho that will house pilots and F-15 fighter jets.
The announcement comes shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order vowing to defend the Gulf Arab state against attacks, following Israeli airstrikes against Hamas leaders in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
“We are signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatar Emiri Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho,” Hegseth said at the Pentagon, with Qatari Defense Minister Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at his side.
“The site will host a contingent of F-15s and Qatari pilots to enhance our combined training,” as well as “increase lethality and interoperability,” he said.
“It's just another example of our partnership. And I hope you know, Your Excellency, that you can count on us.”
The Idaho base also currently hosts a Singapore fighter jet squadron, according to its website.
Hegseth also thanked Qatar for its “substantial role” as a mediator in the talks that led to a truce and hostage and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, and its assistance in securing the release of a U.S. citizen from Afghanistan.
The Qatari minister praised the “strong and long-lasting partnership” and “deep defense relationship” that the two countries share.
Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is Washington's largest military installation in the Middle East.
Trump's close relationship with Qatar's leaders has drawn attention, especially for his gift to the US president of a Boeing 747 to be used as Air Force One.
Although the Idaho facility for Qatar had apparently been in the works since Democrat Joe Biden's last administration, the deal sparked some nerves on social media, including from far-right activist Laura Loomer, generally a Trump ally.
“I never thought I'd see Republicans give terrorist-funding Qatari Muslims a MILITARY BASE on American soil so they can murder Americans,” Loomer wrote in X.
Hegseth, who never said it was a base, later wrote on the platform: “Qatar will not have its own base in the United States, or anything resembling a base. We control the existing base, as we do with all partners.”
