He sat down with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, at the start of a state visit to the state, lavishing him with praise – both for his “friendship” to the US and for the exquisite marbling of his palace
Donald Trump gushed over the leader of Qatar – who is giving him a free luxury jet worth $400 million.
The US President landed in Doha this morning on the second day of his three-day tour of the Middle East.
He sat down with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, at the start of a state visit to the state, lavishing him with praise – both for his “friendship” to the US and for the exquisite marbling of his palace.
Qatar has long been criticised for criminalising homosexuality, with prison sentences of up to seven years or death by stoning.
A 2022 Human Rights Watch report found Qatari security forces continue to arrest citizens who are gay, lesbian, and transgender, sometimes forcing them to undergo conversion therapy.
Qatar says the report contains false allegations.
The oil-and-gas rich country has offered to provide Trump with the gift of a luxury Boeing 747-8 that the US could use as Air Force One while new versions of the plane are under construction by Boeing.
The Qatari government has said a final decision hasn’t been made. But Trump has defended the idea even as critics argue it would amount to a president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government.
Trump has indicated he would refurbish the aircraft and it would later be donated to his post-White House presidential library. He says he would not use the plane once he leaves office.
“We’ve been friends for a long time, hard to believe, right?” Trump told Sheikh al Thani as they sat down together today.
“I remember our first meeting very well, and we’ve liked each other and we’ve worked with each other and now we can work in the highest capacity.”
He went on: “I just want to thank you for everything, and maybe in particular our friendship, it’s been a very loyal, great, beautiful friendship and the job you’ve done is second to none.”
Looking around at the interior of al Thani’s palace, he said: “You look at this and it’s so beautiful. As a construction person I’m seeing perfect marble. This is what they call ‘perfecto’.
“It’s just such a great job you’ve done, and what a beautiful place.”
He also said he appreciated “those camels”, adding that he hadn’t “seen camels like that in a long time.”
Earlier, President Trump met with the interim leader of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa — who as an insurgent had spent years imprisoned by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Trump said the rapprochement with Syria came at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“There is a new government that will hopefully succeed,” said Trump, who announced he’ll move to lift sanctions on Syria to give the country “a chance at peace.”
“I say good luck, Syria. Show us something special,” Trump said.
He later described al-Sharaa as a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past.”
Sheikh al Thani also revealed he would be sharing tips with Trump on how to run the World Cup, which the US will be hosting next year.
The 2022 World Cup was widely criticised over the brutal conditions suffered by migrant workers building the country’s stadiums.
FIFA was slammed over a last-minute decision to hand out yellow cards to European captains who continued to wear rainbow arm bands.
Security officials confiscated items of rainbow clothing and flags featuring rainbows. And American journalist Grant Wahl was briefly detained for wearing a t-shirt with a rainbow on it.
“You’re going to be hosting the World Cup, football, as you guys call it soccer,” Sheikh al Thani told Trump.
“You’re also going to be hosting the Olympics as well, which is very very important. The two biggest sports events.
“We were very lucky that in 2022 we had the World Cup here in Qatar. And there wasn’t one incident during the World Cup. We had 1.5 million people during these couple of weeks and not one incident.
“We’re also sharing our experience on how to deal with the World Cup with your security forces, we have people visiting each other.”