‘Ultimate Betrayal’: MAGA Turns on Trump Over ‘Treasonous’ Qatar Air Base Deal on U.S. Soil, Calls it ‘Dishonest Lunacy’
After years of championing “America First,” Donald Trump is now facing fierce backlash from his own supporters — who accuse him of selling out the country.
The uproar erupted Friday after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared alongside Qatar’s defense minister, Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, at the Pentagon to announce that the U.S. will host a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. The new partnership will see Qatari pilots and F-15 fighter jets stationed on American soil.
“This facility will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance combined training and interoperability,” Hegseth said, calling it “another example of our partnership.”
But that “partnership” has ignited outrage across Trump’s base — who view the move as a betrayal of the very nationalist message that defined his presidency.
The idea of allowing a foreign Islamic monarchy to operate a military facility in one of America’s reddest states has enraged Trump loyalists.
“We are rolling out military across the U.S. and then bringing in a non-NATO military? That’s TREASON,” wrote MAGA influencer The General on X.
Conservative activist Amy Mek echoed the sentiment. “Twenty-four years after 9/11, our leaders are now inviting the financiers of terrorism to train inside our bases,” she wrote. “We’re being led by officials who no longer recognize — or refuse to name — the enemy they’re inviting into our backyard.”
Right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer, long a staunch Trump ally, went even further. “No foreign country should have a military base on U.S. soil — especially Islamic countries,” she said. “We are being set up for America to be attacked by Islamic savages from Qatar, the biggest funders of terror in the world. The betrayal stings. WE ARE LOSING OUR COUNTRY!”
Adding fuel to the fire, Trump recently signed an executive order pledging U.S. protection for Qatar after an Israeli airstrike in Doha killed six people. The order promised that America would take “all lawful and appropriate measures — including military action if necessary — to defend the State of Qatar.”
For many in Trump’s America First movement, the order — coupled with the new base agreement — was the final straw. After years of opposing foreign entanglements, they now see Trump embracing them.
Compounding the criticism is Trump’s earlier acceptance of a $400 million aircraft from the Qatari government, reportedly set to become the new Air Force One. Critics allege the timing suggests a quid pro quo.
“Is this what ‘shared defense goals’ means now — or just another way politicians get paid to sell out our country?” Mek asked.
Some Trump allies, including former Hegseth advisor Dan Caldwell, tried to calm the backlash, arguing that such arrangements are standard. “This is common practice for countries that buy and operate U.S. aircraft,” he said, noting that Singapore runs a similar training program in Idaho.
But many on the right reject that explanation. “Singapore isn’t Qatar,” one post read. “And this isn’t ‘common practice’ — it’s betrayal.”
The Pentagon’s statement left no ambiguity. “I’m proud to sign a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at Mountain Home Airbase,” Hegseth said. Cameras rolled as the deal was finalized.
For many of Trump’s followers, that image — an American defense secretary signing a deal with an Islamic monarchy — symbolized the collapse of the “America First” vision they once rallied behind.
As The General put it bluntly: “This isn’t America First. This is the end of it.”