President Trump Signed Order Vowing to Defend Qatar on Same Day as Netanyahu’s Visit By The Media Line Staff In an unusual move coinciding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to defend Qatar against attack. The pledge, issued Monday, came weeks after Israeli missile […]
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The Media Line: President Trump Signed Order Vowing to Defend Qatar on Same Day as Netanyahu’s Visit
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President Trump Signed Order Vowing to Defend Qatar on Same Day as Netanyahu’s Visit
By The Media Line Staff
In an unusual move coinciding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to defend Qatar against attack. The pledge, issued Monday, came weeks after Israeli missile strikes in Doha killed a Qatari security officer during a failed attempt to target Hamas leaders.
The White House said the order would treat “any armed attack” on Qatar as “a threat to the peace and security of the United States,” vowing that Washington would take “all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic and, if necessary, military” steps in response. The language closely mirrors NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense commitment, though President Trump acted unilaterally without Senate ratification.
The decision highlighted the growing closeness between Washington and Doha, even as it raised questions about how the new guarantee may affect US–Israel relations. Netanyahu’s White House meeting with President Trump on the same day included a phone call with Qatar’s prime minister, during which the Israeli leader offered an apology for the September strike. The president reportedly assured Qatar’s leadership that such an incident would not recur.
President Trump has often questioned US obligations to NATO, making the security guarantee to Qatar all the more striking. Analysts noted that the order grants the president broad discretion in deciding how the United States might respond to an attack.
Qatar has cultivated deep ties with Washington in recent years, hosting the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. Earlier this year, President Trump visited Doha during his first major foreign tour of his second term. Soon after, the Qatari government gifted him a $400 million aircraft, which the Pentagon is preparing to refit as a new Air Force One.