Foreign Policy

We’re Selling Weapons to Qatar Now

Written by SK Ashby

It's only been a week since Trump pointed a finger directly at the nation of Qatar and said "look," they're "funding radical ideology." The blockade of Qatar could be the "beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism" Trump said in a series of unhinged Tweets. Trump also took credit for the isolation of Qatar, even as the State Department called for ending it.

Fast forward to this week, and we've finalized the sale of three dozen fighter jets (F-15s) that will be delivered to Qatar.

Qatari Defense Minister Khalid Al-Attiyah and his U.S. counterpart, Jim Mattis, completed the $12 billion agreement on Wednesday in Washington, according to the Pentagon.

The sale “will give Qatar a state of the art capability and increase security cooperation and interoperability between the United States and Qatar,” the Defense Department said in a statement.

Unlike Trump's fake weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, it appears this one actually exists. And you might say that makes this even more awkward.

Trump sided with Saudi Arabia against Qatar, but we're selling weapons to Qatar, not Saudi Arabia. The deal with Qatar was also approved last year by the Obama administration which Trump accused of blundering the fight against terrorism.

Both our allies and enemies probably shouldn't take anything Trump says at face value.