President Donald Trump, while meeting with Qatar's ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Washington on Tuesday, must inform him that the United States expects "results, not just words" on its actions towards the airline industry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday.
“Qatar has been deliberately undercutting and acting in ways that make it impossible for a company to compete in the Middle East," Gingrich told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo. "They promised several months ago that they would stop. They haven’t stopped,”
People who have been working on the issue hope that Trump "is going to look them in the eye and say 'look, you've got to keep your word,'" said Gingrich. "We want to expect results, not just words. For the future of the American airline industry, this is a very big issue."
Gingrich noted that Qatar is "pretty isolated," as the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates are both against it.
"Qatar is not coming from a position of great strength," said Gingrich. "I suspect they're eager to find some way to make Secretary (Steven) Mnuchin and President Trump happy."
In June, the White House said the planned visit was being held to discuss economic and security ties, along with counterterrorism issues.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar in 2017, accusing the country of supporting Iran and Islamist militants, which it denies.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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