A GOP congressman is raising concerns about Qatar‘s growing influence in the United States, and with the Trump administration, after visiting the Middle East.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) said Qatar was a main topic on his trip last week to Israel when he spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the war against Hamas and President Donald Trump’s effort to strike a nuclear deal with Iran.
“Iran is one,” Stutzman said. “But Qatar — Qatar came up quite a bit over there,” Stutzman told the Washington Examiner in his first interview about his meeting with Netanyahu.
As Trump is relying on Qatar for hostage release talks and supplying him with a new presidential airplane, Stutzman said Doha cannot be trusted. Israel has also been skeptical of Qatar, which houses Hamas’s international leaders outside Gaza and is a large financial backer.
Aside from offering Trump a luxurious Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to be used as Air Force One, Qatar has sent money to U.S. politicians, donating nearly $700,000 to members of Congress and other officials since 2020, the Washington Examiner previously reported.
Stutzman believes the U.S. should investigate Qatar’s operations and its ties to Hamas and terrorism.
