WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The U.S. military is moving forward with plans to build a dedicated facility in Idaho to train pilots from Qatar, an important U.S. ally in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hegseth, who made the announcement during a visit by Qatar’s defense minister, said the facility to be built at the Mountain Home Air Force Base would \u201chost a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase the lethality, interoperability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The arrangement is not unusual. Pentagon officials noted that similar facilities have been set up for other allies for decades, and the Idaho base already hosts a fighter squadron from Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the news drew a sharp rebuke from close Trump ally and right-wing influencer Laura Loomer<\/a>, who called the plan \u201can abomination\u201d and accused the Qataris of being associated with Islamic terror organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo foreign country should have a military base on US soil. Especially Islamic countries,\u201d Loomer wrote in one of several social media posts just hours after Hegseth’s announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Loomer holds no formal position within the Trump administration, her online complaints have a history of achieving results. Her criticisms have led to the firing of officials on the National Security Council<\/a>, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s vaccine chief,<\/a> and Gen. Tim Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qatar would pay for the construction of the new facility, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide information not publicly released. When asked for more details, Hegseth\u2019s office said it had nothing to offer beyond the secretary\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The announcement comes just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order<\/a> vowing to use all measures, including U.S. military action, to defend Qatar, which hosts the biggest U.S. military base<\/a> in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loomer also criticized that decision, writing \u201cI don\u2019t want to die for Qatar. Do you?\u201d on social media. However, she was not alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wall Street Journal\u2019s editorial board also questioned the pledge, writing that “this is a decision that can be and should have been debated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInstead it comes out of the blue \u2014 an executive order following no public debate,\u201d the board wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The small, gas-rich country played a key role<\/a> in negotiating the most recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza, as well as in several other key negotiations. Doha, the capital of Qatar, came under surprise attack from Israel last month as members of Hamas were in the city last month to discuss a ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qatar also lavished a $400 million jumbo jet<\/a> on Trump for use as Air Force One.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the Qataris’ connection with U.S. military aviation predates these more recent developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2020, the U.S. Air Force announced<\/a> it has signed a deal with Qatar for the sale of more than 35 F-15 fighter jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Air Force environmental study, completed two years later, revealed that Mountain Home Air Force Base was proposing building a facility that would house 12 Qatari F-15 jets and about 300 additional Qatari and U.S. Air Force personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the U.S. military has a long history of training pilots for allied countries, the practice received scrutiny in 2019 following a deadly mass shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station that killed three U.S. service members and wounded several others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shooter, Mohammad Saeed Al-Shamrani, was a Saudi Air Force officer who was training at the Pensacola base. The FBI said he was linked to the al-Qaida extremist group and had been in contact with it before the shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n