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Trump backs Saudis over ally Qatar
President Donald Trump jumped headlong Tuesday into a fast-worsening dispute between Qatar and a powerful bloc of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, posting Twitter messages congratulating the Saudis for cracking down on the neighboring kingdom and himself for sparking the breach over alleged Qatari funding for terrorism.
“During my recent trip to the Middle East, I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology,” Trump said in a series of morning tweets. “Leaders pointed to Qatar — look!
“So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off,” he tweeted. “They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar.”
Trump’s intervention came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaking in New Zealand, took a somewhat different tack, noting that “all” countries in the Persian Gulf “have work to do” in ending their support for extremism, and encouraging them to “resolve this through dialogue.”
The regional crisis began on Monday, when Qatar’s Persian Gulf neighbors — Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — were joined by Egypt and smaller nations in severing diplomatic ties with Qatar, claiming it supports terrorists across the region. The eruption of the dispute shocked the neighborhood, and has threatened the deeply intertwined regional trade links and air routes.
The Pentagon, whose air operations for the Middle East are headquartered at a massive air base in Qatar, where at least 10,000 U.S. service members are stationed, also opted for balance and calming words. “We recognize that there are differing views in the region that have gotten us to this point,” it said in a statement. “United States and the Coalition are grateful to the Qataris for their longstanding support of our presence and their enduring commitment to regional security. We have no plans to change our posture in Qatar.”
A senior White House official said Trump’s tweets did not indicate any change in policy or new information. “I think this actually shows the influence (Trump’s) trip had to isolate those who fund terrorism in the region,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatic issue.
During his visit last month to Saudi Arabia, where he delivered a speech to dozens of leaders from Muslimmajority nations gathered for the occasion, Trump met personally with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani. “We are friends, we’ve been friends now for a long time ... our relationship is extremely good,” Trump said at the beginning of the closed-door meeting.
Trump used the Riyadh visit to urge Arab states to wage wider crackdowns on militant groups, including funding channels. But his strong message of support to Saudi leaders, in particular, also may have encouraged Riyadh to act on a longstanding feud with Qatar.
The Gulf Cooperation Council, which has six members — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar — signed a communique with Trump pledging to continue their joint fight against terrorism.
Small but influential Qatar has long been at odds with some of its regional partners over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which is seen by Saudi Arabia and other nations as a threat to the network of ruling monarchs and others across the region. Qatar also had flexed its political influence by using its energy wealth to become a key patron of groups such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip and, in the mid-1990s, launch the Al Jazeera media network.
The tiny, peninsular monarchy of Qatar depends on sea routes and its land border with Saudi Arabia for nearly all its consumer goods. In Doha, worried residents emptied store shelves and stocked up on other key supplies.