US Politics
‘Secretary of War’ Pete Hegseth reacts after Laura Loomer shreds Qatari air force base in US
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — who calls himself the War Secretary amid an administration rebranding of the Defense Department — issued a “clarification” after widespread criticism from MAGA supporters over the news that the U.S. will host a Qatari air force facility on American soil.
Speaking alongside Qatar’s Minister of Defense Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Hegseth announced Friday, “Today, we’re announcing a letter of acceptance in building a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.”
The announcement sparked immediate backlash from conservative critics, most notably Laura Loomer, who has the ear of President Donald Trump, prompting Hegseth to post an “important clarification” on X later in the day.
“The U.S. military has a long-standing partnership w/ Qatar, including today’s announced cooperation w/ F-15QA aircraft. However, to be clear, 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,” he wrote.
Despite the clarification, far-right activist Loomer doubled down on her remark that allowing people linked to Hamas to train on U.S. soil poses a national security threat.
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“Nobody wants the funders of HAMAS in America being trained to fly fighter jets on US soil. A jihadist in a suit is still a jihadi. It’s a threat to our national security,” Loomer replied to Hegseth’s follow-up post.
Earlier Friday, Loomer called the plan “an abomination.”
“I don’t think I’ll be voting in 2026. I cannot in good conscience make any excuses for the harboring of jihadis. This is where I draw the line,” she wrote.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and the Idaho Freedom Foundation also condemned the plan.
“There should never be a military base of a foreign power on the sacred soil of America,” Bannon told Newsweek.
The MAGA-friendly Idaho Freedom Foundation said on X, “To unilaterally decide that Idaho will host a foreign nation’s Air Force facility, which would house and train foreign nationals whose loyalties don’t align with our own national and state interests, is a completely unacceptable overreach.”
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Meanwhile, the Qatari embassy confirmed that the training facility is part of a 10-year commitment to enhance interoperability between the two nations’ air forces. The embassy also noted that the project will create American jobs and support broader U.S.-Qatari military cooperation.
The establishment of the facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base, home to the 366th Fighter Wing, follows a precedent of hosting foreign military personnel for training. Similar arrangements have been made with other allies, such as Singapore, which has trained its pilots at the base since 1998.
The facility is expected to accommodate 12 Qatari F-15 jets and approximately 300 personnel.
In September, Trump signed an order pledging U.S. defense of Qatar if attacked and urged Israel’s leader to apologize for a deadly strike on a Qatari serviceman.
Earlier this year, Qatar’s royal family gave Trump a $400 million jet, which he said would eventually go to his presidential library.
