A minor MAGA Republican uproar over news last week that the U.S. would host Qatari pilots at a U.S. military base in Idaho was not caused by the Pentagon’s misleading phrasing for the facility, rather, a “misreporting” on the facts, according to Vice President Vance.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday said that the U.S. would be “signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatar Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho” a location that is set to host a contingent of Qatari F-15 fighter jets and pilots.
The news quickly sparked a backlash from several prominent figures in the GOP’s MAGA base, who blasted the Trump administration for allowing what seemed to be, according to Hegseth’s phrasing, a Qatari military base on U.S. soil. Qatar’s media attaché to the U.S. later clarified that a standalone Qatari air base will not exist, rather, the country had made a 10-year commitment to build and maintain a dedicated training facility within an existing U.S. air base.
Speaking during a Sunday morning appearance on Fox News, Vance called the furor a “fake story.”
“This is largely a fake story,” Vance said. “We continue to have, with countries that we work with, we have relationships where sometimes their pilots work on our bases, sometimes that we train together, sometimes we work together in other ways. The reporting that somehow there’s going to be a Qatari base on United States soil, that’s just not true.”
He added: “We’re not going to let a foreign country have an actual base on American soil. So there’s a bit of misreporting on that, as there often is.”
Among those who reacted sharply to Friday’s news was Laura Loomer, a far-right political activist and close ally to President Trump, who said she felt “betrayed” over the matter.
Over several social media posts Friday afternoon, Loomer stressed that “no foreign country should have a military base on US soil. Especially Islamic countries.”
“Never thought I’d see Republicans give terror financing Muslims from Qatar a MILITARY BASE on US soil so they can murder Americans,” Loomer posted to X. “I don’t think I’ll be voting in 2026. I cannot in good conscience make any excuses for the harboring of jihadis.”
Loomer had previously called out Trump over his acceptance of a luxury Boeing jet from the Qatari government. She has frequently exposed her disdain for Qatar and other countries with a majority Muslim population.
The Trump administration has had a steadily growing relationship with Qatar, which it has credited with helping secure the Gaza peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
And earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order to increase U.S. protection of Qatar following an Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha that killed six people, including a Qatari security officer.
Speaking Friday at the Pentagon alongside Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Qatari defense minister, Hegseth said the agreement to house Qatari pilots in Idaho showcases the strength of the partnership between Doha and Washington.
“We’re grateful for the strong partnership that we have, the way you support our troops at Al Udeid, your Excellency, the line of communication we’ve had together,” Hegseth said, referencing the U.S. military base in Qatar.
