Tillerson urges ease on Qatar blockade

DOHA, Qatar -- Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on a Saudi Arabia-led bloc of Arab nations Friday to immediately ease their blockade of Qatar and urged all involved in the weeklong Persian Gulf dispute to quickly resolve their differences, remarks that President Trump seemed to undercut less than an hour later.

Trump began a Rose Garden news conference with the visiting president of Romania by saying that the Saudi-led action against Qatar was “hard but necessary.” He said he had been consulted in advance by nations that “spoke to me about confronting Qatar,” a country he said historically has been a “funder of terrorism at a very high level.”

He said he had decided, along with Tillerson and “our great generals and military people, the time had come to call on Qatar to end that funding ... and its extremist ideology.”

Earlier, in a brief, formal statement at the State Department, Tillerson had called Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to ease their blockade, warning that it was causing humanitarian hardship in Qatar, harming U.S. and international business, and hindering U.S. military actions against the Islamic State.

A senior administration official, speaking after Trump’s comments, acknowledged a difference in “tone” with Tillerson. “But I think the policy is consistent,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to explain the apparent discrepancy.

Trump does not oppose easing the blockade — although he did not mention it — but “he does believe that [Qatar] deserves it’,” the official said.

The fast-escalating crisis in the Persian Gulf began Monday.