Hours after the United States and Qatar signed an agreement to establish a Qatari air force facility in Idaho, several prominent American bigwigs including Laura Loomer and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon voiced anger at the move, calling it a betrayal of core Republican values.
Independent journalist Laura Loomer accused the administration of undermining national security, writing on X that she had “never felt more betrayed by the GOP.”
In a series of posts on X, Loomer said “no foreign country should have a military base on US soil. Especially Islamic countries.”
She added in another post that Hegseth, who she calls her friend, “should know how bad of an idea it is to allow Terror financing Qataris who fund HAMAS and the Muslim Brotherhood to have an AIR FORCE BASE ON US SOIL.”
“This is a set up for America to be attacked by Islamic savages from Qatar, the biggest funders of Islamic terror in the entire world. So much so, the Saudis and Emiratis find Qatar to be TOXIC. :
No foreign country should have a military base on US soil.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 10, 2025
Especially Islamic countries.
I have never felt more betrayed by the GOP than I do now watching Islamic jihadists get away with implementing Sharia law in the US and now they are getting their own airbase where they…
Loomer added, “I don’t think I’ll be voting in 2026,” over the issue.
Never thought I’d see Republicans give terror financing Muslims from Qatar a MILITARY BASE on US soil so they can murder Americans.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 10, 2025
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. pic.twitter.com/24OdLMw14Y
Conservative commentator Amy Mek expressed similar outrage, saying she was “in shock that Washington would approve a deal letting Qatar, Hamas’s #1 financier, open a Qatari Air Force facility on US soil at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.” She added that the decision reflected “a shared delusion,” claiming it would become “a launchpad for the Islamic disaster.”
The Pentagon announced the agreement on Friday, confirming that the new facility at Mountain Home Air Base would host Qatari F-15 fighter jets and pilots for joint training operations. Hegseth said the partnership would “enhance our combined training, increase lethality, and interoperability.”
The announcement was made during an arrival ceremony at the Pentagon for Qatar’s Minister of Defence, Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Hegseth described the project as “a letter of acceptance in building a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.”
Reacting to the development, Steve Bannon told Newsweek that “there should never be a military base of a foreign power on the sacred soil of America.”
Qatar already hosts around 8,000 US troops at the Al Udeid Air Base — the forward headquarters of US Central Command — which was struck by Iran earlier this year. The two countries renewed their military cooperation there last year.