Risch, Simpson defend plan to train Qatari forces at Air Force base in Idaho after it draws backlash from both left and right
WASHINGTON – News that an Air Force base in Idaho will host a training facility for Qatari troops drew criticism from both the left and right over the weekend, with the state’s congressional delegation largely in support of the plan Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday.
In remarks alongside his Qatari counterpart, Defense Minister Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Pentagon chief touted the partnership between the United States and the nation located on the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East and has played a key role in negotiating the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that took effect on Friday.
After thanking Sheikh Saoud, a member of Qatar’s royal family, for that diplomatic assistance, Hegseth said he was “proud that today we’re announcing, or we’re signing a letter of acceptance, to build a Qatar Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho.”
Mountain Home Air Force Base, located about 50 miles south of Boise, is home to the Air Force’s 366th Fighter Wing. Since 1998, it has also hosted a squadron from Singapore’s air force, conducting training operations for the Southeast Asian nation.
“The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability,” said Hegseth, who prefers to call his agency the Department of War since the Trump administration rebranded the Defense Department in September. “It’s just another example of our partnership, and I hope, you know, Your Excellency, that you can count on us.”
The announcement immediately drew backlash both from politicians running against Idaho’s Republican incumbents and from prominent members of President Donald Trump’s political coalition. Steve Bannon, an adviser in Trump’s first administration, said in a podcast appearance Friday that “no foreign power should have a military base on the sacred soil of America.”
Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist and self-described “proud Islamophobe” who has flexed her influence by getting numerous government officials fired for perceived disloyalty to Trump, railed against the planned training facility in dozens of posts on X.
“The people of IDAHO need to REVOLT against the creation of a Qatari air base in their state,” she wrote. “This cannot stand. Every single politician in Idaho needs to be put on notice and told they won’t get your vote unless they condemn the creation of a JIHADI AIR BASE in Idaho. I’d be willing to temporarily move to Idaho to help spearhead this effort.”
In response to the criticism from Loomer and other influential GOP figures, Hegseth posted an “important clarification” on X, writing that the U.S. military has long partnered with Qatar and that Qatari airmen will train at Mountain Home but won’t have “anything like a base” in Idaho.
Qatar signed a deal with the United States in June 2017, in the early months of Trump’s first term, to purchase $12 billion worth of F-15 fighters. Just one week earlier, Trump said that Qatar had “historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level,” but the president told reporters Sunday on Air Force One, “In 2017, I didn’t really know them very well.”
In a letter to the four Republicans who represent Idaho in Congress, a group of GOP state legislators that calls itself the Gang of Eight, led by state Sen. Christy Zito of Mountain Home, expressed concerns about the Qatari training facility and requested a formal briefing from Hegseth on the plans.
“The rise of radical Islamic terrorism remains a serious concern for many Americans,” the lawmakers wrote. “This agreement does little to ease those fears. Equally troubling is the lack of consultation with Idaho’s state leadership prior to announcing this deal.”
Sen. Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, didn’t immediately comment on Hegseth’s announcement. But in a statement to The Spokesman-Review late Tuesday, the senator said the move “is in line with other preexisting U.S. military agreements with important allies like Singapore, which has been hosted at the base for years.”
“Both Singapore and Qatar purchased our military aircraft and require training to operate them,” Risch said. “Idaho’s congressional delegation is working with the Administration to ensure questions about proper safeguards are addressed and that this agreement is implemented in a way that makes America’s military stronger, safer, and more reliable.”
Rep. Mike Simpson, a Republican who represents eastern Idaho and most of Boise, was the first – and most enthusiastic – member of the Gem State’s congressional delegation to address the Qatari training facility. In a post Friday on X, he called the announcement “fantastic news” and said, “This development is beneficial for training, enhances our partnership with America’s allies, and strengthens national security.”
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, expressed cautious support for the plan in a statement to the Idaho Capital Sun, pledging to “continue working with Air Force and Mountain Home base leadership to ensure they have the support necessary to fulfill goals of global military readiness that keep Idahoans and Americans safe and protect our long-term national security interests.”
Rep. Russ Fulcher, who represents North Idaho and areas west of Boise, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
While the GOP’s dominance in Idaho means elected officials are usually more concerned about criticism from within their party than from outside, candidates running to unseat Risch and Gov. Brad Little have also denounced the plan.
“This isn’t just a foreign-relations issue – it’s a direct threat to Idaho’s sovereignty, our security, and the rights of Idahoans,” Terri Pickens, a Democrat running for governor, said in a statement. “Letting outsiders use our military infrastructure poses serious security and intelligence risks. Governor Little must tell the president to put a pause on this deal before it goes any further.”
As of Tuesday night, Little had not commented on the plan.
Todd Achilles, an Army veteran and former corporate executive running against Risch as an independent, issued a short statement on Friday suggesting that the incumbent senator played an inappropriate role in the agreement with Qatar.
“I have one question for Senator Risch,” Achilles wrote. “Were you in on this?”
As KIVI-TV in Boise reported Tuesday, the training facility has been in the works since at least 2021, when an environmental assessment outlined a plan to base 12 Qatari jets and about 300 personnel at Mountain Home. But close ties between the Gulf state and the Trump administration – and the Trump family’s rapidly growing wealth – have fueled accusations of impropriety.
In May, Qatar gifted a luxury jet to the U.S. government to be converted into a new Air Force One. In her statement, Pickens referred to the estimated value of that aircraft, saying, “For a $400 million airplane, they got a better deal than the Louisiana Purchase.”
The Trump Organization, led by the president’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, announced a deal in April to build a $5.5 billion luxury golf resort in Qatar. The president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, received approximately $200 million from both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for his investment fund, the New York Times reported in March.
Qatar has played a prominent diplomatic role in the region, including by mediating between Israel and Hamas and between the United States and the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan. Both Israel and Iran have launched strikes on Qatar this year.