A senior Qatari embassy official outlined key details surrounding the newly announced training facility that will be constructed in Idaho to strengthen the alliance between Qatar and the United States. The facility, which will be fully funded by Qatar and not a U.S. military base, will support the U.S. military’s partnership with Qatar, which includes the purchase of F-15QA fighter aircraft in a $21.1 billion deal finalized in 2017.
Speculation about the facility’s nature sparked discussions among several members of Congress after War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced its construction. Hamad Mohammed AlMuftah, deputy chief of mission for the Qatari embassy in Washington, D.C., clarified that the facility will not be a Qatari base and that Qatar will fund all construction costs, including barracks for airmen stationed there. The agreement, which is a 10-year commitment, involves training Qataris with U.S. soldiers at Mountain Home Air Base, after initial discussions about locating it in Michigan.
President Donald Trump’s secretary of war reaffirmed that Qataris will not have their own base in the United States, emphasizing that the U.S. military controls the existing base. A senior Qatari official confirmed the agreement is a 10-year commitment to host Qatari fighter pilots at the base in Idaho. While the U.S. base in Doha, Qatar, is considered U.S. soil, the Idaho training facility will remain under U.S. control.