Trump denounces Qatar but Obama-era F-15 deal goes ahead

A day before two US warships docked in Doha, the Pentagon signed a $12 billion (Dh44bn) deal to sell American F-15 fighters to Qatar.

A US F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft flies at an event at Lielvarde Air Base, Latvia, on May 19, 2016. Valda Kalnina /EPA

New York // A week ago, Donald Trump used a White House news conference to denounce Qatar as “a funder of terrorism at a very high level”, his latest statement offering implicit support for the Gulf state’s blockade by other regional powers.

This week, a day before two US warships docked in Doha, the Pentagon signed a $12 billion (Dh44bn) deal to sell American F-15 fighters to the country.

The two strands of US foreign policy illustrate what many see as the dilemma for America’s engagement in the Middle East: how to keep pressure on Iran and ISIL while also balancing loyalties among Gulf states which have their own demands.

Nowhere is that better illustrated than Qatar. Mr Trump has made it clear he expects Doha to do more to tackle the Muslim Brotherhood and hardline ideologies that critics say fuel terrorism, while at the same time continuing to allow the US to use Al Udeid airbase, where about 10,000 US servicemen are based.

David Roberts, assistant professor at King's College London who recently wrote the book Qatar: Securing the Global Ambitions of a City-State, said Doha knew its value to Washington.

“It wants to be very important to America, to secure itself via America, and through the security of the base, it wants to use that as leverage to pursue other objectives, whether we are talking about Hamas or whatever it may be,” he said.

That placed Washington between a rock and a hard place even before Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other states imposed a blockade of Qatar.

Since then Mr Trump has diverged frequently from the views of the US foreign policy establishment, even at times taking credit for Qatar’s sudden isolation.

Against that backdrop, Qatar was keen to trumpet its deal for as many as 36 F-15s.

“Qatar and the United States have solidified their military cooperation by having fought together side by side for many years now in an effort to eradicate terrorism and promote a future of dignity and prosperity,” said Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, the Qatari defence minister.

Congress last year approved the sale of as many as 72 F-15s to Qatar. The Barack Obama administration said it would help national security by improving “the security of a friendly country and strengthening our strategically important relationship”.

At one level, the public signing on Wednesday, a day before the USS Chinook and US Coast Guard cutter Baranof arrived in Doha for a routine port visit — suggests an endorsement of Qatar and sends a message to Saudi Arabia and the UAE to ease their blockade.

However, diplomats warned against reading too much into the timing.

“Presumably the US could have delayed the deal if they’d wanted to, although I don’t think there’s a great connect between sales and foreign policy,” said a diplomatic source in the Gulf.

That still leaves what many observers see as a disconnect between the White House and the State Department.

Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, has been trying to broker peace between the Gulf states. On Monday he met Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister and held a working dinner on Wednesday night with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

A spokeswoman for the state department said: “I would characterise the mood and the approach to that as being one that is hopeful, that believes that the worst is behind us.”

Mr Tillerson’s efforts and the Pentagon weapons deal represented — according to an analyst speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of falling foul of local laws — a reversion to standard, pragmatic American foreign policy.

“There are many things you can criticise Qatar for — you can say they can and should be doing more to counter terrorist financing — but on balance they have come to the typical US administration conclusion that Qatar is more a friend than not.”

The F-15 deal suggests America is sending a message to the region that Mr Trump’s populist foreign policy — good versus bad, simple over complex — is butting up against reality.