President Donald Trump authorized a $12 billion arms deal with Qatar days after he accused the country of sponsoring terrorism.
The Qatari ambassador to the U.S. announced the finalization by tweeting a picture of his country's defense minister meeting with American Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.
"We are pleased to announce today the signing of the letter of offer and acceptance for the purchase of the F-15QA fighter jets, with an initial cost of $12 billion dollars," Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah said in a statement Wednesday, according to CBS News. "We believe that this agreement will propel Qatar's ability to provide for its own security while also reducing the burden placed upon the United States military in conducting operations against violent extremism."
Al-Attiyah added that the deal "underscores the longstanding commitment of the state of Qatar in jointly working with our friends and allies in the United States. He also said that it will ensure "closer strategic collaboration in our fight to counter violent extremism and promote peace and stability in our region and beyond," according to NBC News.
Trump has recently denounced Qatar as a state sponsor of terrorism following multiple Middle Eastern nations severing diplomatic ties with the nation.
"The nation of Qatar unfortunately has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level," Trump told reporters last week, according to Reuters.
"So we had a decision to make, do we take the easy road or do we finally take a hard but necessary action. We have to stop the funding of terrorism. I decided ... the time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.