Peloni: I am old enough to recall President Trump describing Qatar as having “historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” In fact, it was less than ten years ago when Trump began to shift his revulsion for the Muslim Brotherhood terror entity of Qatar, and it can hardly be said to be because Qatar has become less inclined to either manipulate American society against America values, nor could it be said to be because this terror enclave became less supportive of terrorism. The consequences of Qatar being raised to significant status by American elites, is not making America safer, nor is it making the Middle East more stable, which draws some of Trump’s strongest supporters to question why he might have chosen to so closely align with Qatar.
Arlene Kushner | July 6, 2026
Trump’s New “Air Force One” First Flight – VC-25B Bridge (Boeing 747-8 Jet Qatar Gifted). Screengrab via Youtube
I was born and grew up in America; I raised my three children there. My aliyah 25 years ago was not motivated by a rejection of America. I was not running from… Rather, I was running to…
I was opting to fully embrace my Jewish heritage, which is bound up with the Land of Israel, and I have never, for a moment, regretted my decision.
But I remain an American citizen; I still pay taxes and I still vote – just as I always voted when I lived in the US.
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For years, I have been aware of the fact that unsettling changes were taking place in America. And now it is possible to see it clear:
The America I knew is gone.
It was a Fourth of July celebration that brought this reality home to me vividly and painfully.
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One of the things President Donald Trump arranged in celebration of the Fourth was a flyover of the new top-of-the-line Boeing 747 jumbo jet gifted by Qatar for use in place of an aging Air Force One. Quite frankly, I found this fairly obscene. I believe it was inappropriate for Trump to have accepted that plane – which, in any event, the US had to spend $400 million retrofitting.
Why should Qatar have had a connection – any connection – to the celebration of the United States on its 250th year of independence?
Trump thrives on having what appears to be the “classiest,” the “very best” of everything. He has even had the moldings in the White House painted with gilt paint. And so we might assume that in doing the flyover he was simply broadcasting what he saw as an achievement: he had acquired the very best possible jet – the one with the most elaborately finished interior – for his use while president. He specifically made the point that this was a more expensive jet than anything the US had.
But we shouldn’t ignore the very real possibility that there is more to it than this. We might ask what Qatar gained by making this gift – how Qatar was playing Trump. And conversely, we might ask how the president might have been playing Qatar.
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This week Trump referred to Qatar as “a great ally”, which I suspect startled many of us. This is not the first time he has made such a statement. Last September, while aboard the old Air Force One, which had landed in Qatar, he elaborated a bit more:
“look, we’re with them…
“A lot of people don’t understand about Qatar. Qatar has been a great ally. They also lead a very difficult life, because they’re right in the middle of everything. So they have to be a little bit politically correct in their terms, but I will tell you. They’ve been a great ally for the United States.”
https://www.jns.org/u.s.-news/qatar-a-great-ally-trump-tells-reporters-repeatedly
Here he is with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on that occasion.
President Donald Trump meets with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani aboard Air Force One. Photo by The White House – Flickr, Public Domain, Wikipedia.
Qatar, says Trump, must be, “A little bit politically correct in their terms.” Really now? That’s it?
Let us take a closer look at this Gulf state.
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Qatar is at core an Islamist state that supports and embraces Muslim Brotherhood actors. Key among these has been Hamas: Not only has Qatar provided major funds to Hamas, over a significant period of time it permitted Hamas’s leaders to shelter in the height of luxury in its capital, Doha.
Via the Al Jazeera broadcasting network, which is centered in Doha, Qatar also promotes its Islamist position – often with some subtlety. Their message is delivered via the way in which it reports world events. Certainly its tilt is significantly anti-Israel.
Let us be clear here: The Islamist worldview is antithetical to Western democracy; it insists upon adherence to Sharia law and promotes the installation of a global caliphate.
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Jim Hanson, Chief Strategist for the American-based Middle East Forum, has identified Qatar as one of the biggest exporters of Islamist ideology in all its forms, and possibly the largest state sponsor of terrorism.
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But the kicker is that Hanson also says this:
“In a painful bit of irony, they are also one of our [America’s] most-valued allies for counter-terrorism.
“This is a double game they play very successfully.” (Emphasis added)
https://www.meforum.org/confronting-qatar-the-muslim-brotherhood-and-the-global-caliphate-project#
See the above article for Hanson’s explanation of how Qatar manages this. It is a complex matter. What we need to know is that Trump meant it when he referred to Qatar as a great ally. The Qataris serve the US well in many respects: because of its connections within the radical Muslim world it can serve as negotiator and provide valuable intelligence. Additionally, it hosts Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military facility in the Middle East and the forward headquarters for the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Air Forces Central (AFCENT).
The US and Qatar maintain embassies in each other’s respective capitals. Additionally, Qatar has been designated by the United States as a “major non-NATO ally,” which confers certain advantages and denotes strong diplomatic and economic ties.
And so we see that Trump wasn’t making this up when he referred to Qatar as a “great ally.” But we should note that this designation was first officially applied to Qatar during the Biden administration, before Trump’s second term.
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It is apparent that because of Qatar’s usefulness to the US, there has been a tendency to downplay or disregard this country’s involvement with terrorism/promotion of the Jihadist perspective. Certainly there has been no demand from Washington that a special relationship with Doha must be predicated on renouncing support for terrorism.
This is greatly disturbing, but there is yet more:
Qatar is the largest foreign funder of US higher education. We are speaking not of millions, but of billions of dollars. According to the US Department of Education, as of early 2026, $62.4 billion in aggregate funding had been disclosed. Consider one report (emphasis added):
“Georgetown University has received over $1 billion in funding from the Qatari government over the last two decades, according to a new report arguing the money has compromised the institution’s curricula development and positions on major geopolitical issues which bear on the national security of the US.
The report, “Foreign Infiltration: Georgetown University, Qatar, and the Muslim Brotherhood,” was released last June by The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism Policy (ISGAP).
“…The Qatari regime targets Georgetown due to its unrivaled access to current and future leaders Over two decades, that investment has paid off — embedding Muslim Brotherhood scholars and narratives deep within the American academic and political culture,” Dr. Charles Asher Small, executive director of ISGAP, said in a statement on the report.
“This masterful use of soft power is not only about Georgetown. It is how authoritarian regimes are buying access, narrative control, and ideological legitimacy — and too many universities are willing sellers.”
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There are a number of methods Qatar utilizes for wielding influence over the thinking of American university students, these include: endowing chairs and professorships; subsidizing initial salaries for specific lecturers; funding curriculum development and specific academic programming.
There are also programs that involve study by American students in Qatar. More than 35 years ago, the Qatar Foundation launched its Education City; American students are brought to Qatar to study at a branch of an American university that has been located on site. Such universities as Carnegie Melon, Northwestern and Texas A&M have participated in this program.
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Qatar is radicalizing young people who will become the next generation of leaders. And there is one particular context where this is particularly relevant.
Immediately following the massacre of October 7, we began to see virulently anti-Israel demonstrations on many American campuses.
In light of the evidence I have presented above, it would be difficult to deny that the atmosphere on many campuses had been influenced by the radicalization of university students. I have no documentation at present, but it would find it very hard to believe that Qatar provided no funding for these demonstrations, perhaps indirectly via various NGOs so that support is difficult to trace.
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In the two-and-a-half years since October 7, anti-Semitism in the US has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. Jews sometimes now speak of the need to hide their Jewish identity in public.
I was saddened in the course of celebrations on the Fourth when the values of America’s forefathers were lauded – as they should be!! I wanted to cry: Wait! those values were drawn from Torah values, from Jewish concepts such as the equal dignity of all people and a call for liberty. So much was this understood that Yale University placed Hebrew on its coat of arms. But the source of these values is now frequently forgotten, as Jews are too often demeaned or read out.
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Jonathan Tobin, editor-in-chief of JNS, argued this week that abandoning the US is unthinkable – that American Jews must stand and fight. “Jews,” he says, “should understand that they have no choice but to stand and fight for their place in society.”
I enormously respect Tobin but must disagree with him here. Of course, they have a choice. Israel awaits them, and growing numbers will come. As an Israeli, American-born though I am, I cannot imagine it otherwise.
For those who cannot or choose not to leave, yes, it is important to refuse to be intimidated or literally driven from the street. But the good fight – the only way the fight stands a chance of being successful, I believe – starts with taking on the agencies that influence and radicalize young Americans.
I urge you to share this as broadly as possible, and to yell long and loud about what is going on: The Islamist Qatar has the latitude to influence and radicalize American university students. Many do not know about this and would be horrified.
Utilize letters to the editor, op-eds, talk-backs, and whatever else you might draw upon to call attention to this situation.
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I ask, as I always do, that you please pray. Pray for our leaders, both political and military, and for all of Am Israel. Pray as well for the future of America, and the wisdom and strength of its political leaders.
©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
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