Trump reverses past criticism; extols emir
WASHINGTON — President Trump vouched publicly on Tuesday for Qatar’s efforts to stop the funding of terrorism, reversing his past critique and lending presidential credence to Qatari claims that it’s been unfairly maligned by its Persian Gulf rivals.
Less than a year ago, Trump stood in the Rose Garden and chided the tiny gas-rich nation for historically funding terror at a “high level,” as he broke with his secretary of state by siding against Qatar in its row with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other neighbors. Since then, Qatar has mounted an aggressive and wellfunded campaign to rehabilitate its image in the U.S. and prove it’s a reliable American partner.
As Qatar’s ruling emir visited the White House on Tuesday, the fruits of that labor began to show.
“You’ve now become a very big advocate, and we appreciate it,” Trump told Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani. “A lot of countries were funding terrorism and we’re stopping it. It’s getting stopped and fast — very important.”
The emir, seated next to Trump in the Oval Office, was even less equivocal as he described essentially a zero-tolerance policy. He repeated the point several times as reporters and cameras were allowed in briefly for the start of their meeting.
“I want to make something very clear, Mr. President,” the Qatari emir said. “We do not and we will not tolerate with people who fund terrorism. We’ve been cooperating with the United States of America to stop funding terrorism around the region.”
Still, as Trump praised the emir as a “great gentleman” and a “friend of mine,” it was unclear how much of the warm reception was due to Trump’s time-honored habit of chiding his opponents from afar but then softening when they come face to face.