Peloni: Trump should be thrilled over this action taken by Israel, as should all freedom loving people in the world. The leaders who planned and executed and celebrated and were in every way responsible and associated with the barbarism of October 7 were themselves dealt a far more humane end than were their victims, which include citizens of 33 different countries, including dozens who were US citizens. Treating barbarians as such sends a clear warning to the world that this level of savagery will not be tolerated, and while this message was delivered nearly two years later than it could and should have been, all freedom loving people should be thrilled that there is a country which is capable and willing to excise such a price for what took place on October 7. Instead of sending such confounded and mixed messages as articulated in Trump’s statements, the world should be stating “well done”, and “do it again if any of the targets of this strike actually survive”.
Also, Trump’s continued association with and embrace of Qatar continues to be perplexing, and he should instead should be making statements similar to that of the Green Prince.
Trump emphasizes decision was made by Netanyahu, ‘not by me’
On the morning after the stunning news of Israel’s strike against Hamas in the Qatari capital of Doha went around the world, the United States’ level of involvement and approval of the operation remained somewhat unclear.
Speaking to reporters, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “I’m just not thrilled about the whole situation… We want the hostages back, but we are not thrilled about the way that went down today.”
In a statement on Tuesday evening, President Trump had criticized the strike inside Qatar, “a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace.”
According to him, his government was notified by the military “that Israel was attacking Hamas which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the Capital of Qatar,” indicating that he didn’t know about the strikes beforehand.
However, media outlets reported that Israel had notified the U.S. shortly before the strikes.
Trump also noted that “This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me.” After the strikes, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office had quickly emphasized that the operation “was a wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.”
According to a report by Axios, which hasn’t been confirmed by other outlets, the U.S. was only informed of the strikes when “missiles were already in the air,” infuriating some in the Trump administration.
The President noted that the strikes did “not advance Israel or America’s goals,” also stressed: “However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”
On Sunday, Trump had issued a “last warning” to Hamas to accept the latest ceasefire proposal, saying, “I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting.”
Upon receiving news of the strike, Trump wrote, he “immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack.”
“I view Qatar as a strong Ally and friend of the U.S., and feel very badly about the location of the attack. I want ALL of the Hostages, and bodies of the dead, released, and this War to END, NOW!”
Qatar is a designated major non-NATO ally of the U.S., and houses the largest American military base in the Middle East. Trump visited the country in May of this year.
“I also spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu after the attack. The Prime Minister told me that he wants to make Peace. I believe this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for PEACE. I also spoke to the Emir and Prime Minister of Qatar, and thanked them for their support and friendship to our Country. I assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil,” Trump concluded his statement.
The written remarks were nearly identical to a statement issued by his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, several hours earlier, indicating that rather than his usual apparent off-the-cuff remarks, the statement was carefully crafted to navigate the highly unusual situation of one close U.S. ally striking a target in another.
Trump’s statement was a lone voice of relatively weak criticism amid near-universal strong condemnation of the Israeli strike by the UN, Arab states, and European nations, even including friendly governments like Germany.
We know how Trump operates or at least by now we should know. He might say one thing publicly but think the opposite.
Obviously Trump if not outright approved Israel’s attack, he certainly didn’t veto it.
His claim that Qatar is a close US ally is Trump walking a tight rope.
For all the wrong reasons, he’s stuck with one of the largest US military bases outside of the US in Qatar. He bloody well knows exactly what we know (and more) about exactly who is Qatar. But he has a huge military base there which contains approx 10,000 American soldiers. The base itself is worth billions of US dollars. So it costs him little to say a few words to appease Qatar even if they undermine his real and very close ally Israel.
Don’t get me wrong, I DO NOT approve of his message. I would much prefer if he publicly condemned Qatar for it’s terror supporting activities, for housing Hamas leaders, for spending billions of dollars right here in the US to indoctrinate Americans (especially the youth) to hate Jews and Israel and on and on. Not too long ago he publicly stated that Qatar is our enemy. I’m not exactly sure why he changed his tune now but I can guess that he is really trying to make a ‘deal’ to free the hostages and end the war in Gaza and he thinks befriending Qatar is his best chance in doing so. But as I already stated, he knows that Qatar is our enemy.
Of course like any of us living room quarterbacks, we are not privy to any of the very important information that the president of the US is. So there can be and probably are, a myriad other reasons for his tactics.
His actions are much more important that his words (this applies to all of us).
But words are also important. His comments decreeing Qatar as a close US ally send the absolute wrong message to billions of people who of course listen to him accross the world but most importantly in the US. It’s a dangerous move for sure.