The United States has struck an agreement to permit Qatar to build an air force facility at Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho, Pentagon officials announced. The new facility will house Qatari F-15 fighter jets and their pilots, with a stated goal of enhancing training capacity, interoperability, and combined operational strength between the two nations.
Speaking at the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a letter of acceptance would be signed “to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility” within the Idaho base. He emphasized that while the host base remains under US control, the arrangement would allow Qatar to station assets and personnel on US soil for joint training and mission readiness.
In the announcement, Hegseth also acknowledged Qatar’s role as a mediator in recent peace efforts, including its involvement in arranging a truce and hostage-prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, as well as facilitating the release of a US citizen from Afghanistan. Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, lauded the agreement as proof of the “strong, enduring partnership” between Doha and Washington.
The Mountain Home base, already hosting a fighter squadron from Singapore, will now accommodate the Qatari contingent under this expansion. The deal, reportedly in planning since the Biden administration, has drawn public attention and debate. Some online critics raised concerns about allowing a foreign military presence on American territory. In response, Hegseth clarified that “Qatar will not have their own base in the United States — nor anything like a base. We control the existing base, like we do with all partners.”
Trump’s close ties with Qatar have drawn scrutiny as well, especially following earlier controversies around Qatar’s gift of a Boeing 747, intended for use as Air Force One, which raised questions about influence and reciprocity between the countries.
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