The Pentagon is moving ahead with a plan to construct a dedicated training facility for Qatari fighter pilots at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho — a move Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says will strengthen a critical U.S. alliance in the Middle East.
Hegseth announced the decision Friday alongside Qatar’s defense minister, describing the project as a key step toward enhancing joint military readiness. The new facility will “host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase the lethality, interoperability,” he said.
According to a defense official, Qatar will fully fund the construction of the new complex. Hegseth’s office did not provide additional specifics, but Pentagon officials noted that similar training arrangements with foreign allies have existed for decades. The Idaho base already hosts a Singaporean fighter squadron operating under a similar partnership.
However, the decision immediately sparked political backlash — particularly from far-right commentator and Trump ally Laura Loomer, who took to social media to condemn the move.
She called the plan “an abomination,” adding, “No foreign country should have a military base on US soil. Especially Islamic countries.”
Loomer’s criticism carries unusual weight given her history of influencing high-level personnel decisions. Her past online campaigns have reportedly led to the removal of officials at the National Security Council, the FDA, and even the National Security Agency.
Her objections also extended to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order pledging to use “all measures,” including military action, to defend Qatar. “I don’t want to die for Qatar. Do you?” Loomer wrote.
Even the Wall Street Journal editorial board questioned the lack of public debate, writing that “this is a decision that can be and should have been debated” rather than rolled out “out of the blue.”
Despite the uproar, the U.S. and Qatar have maintained deep military ties for years. Qatar hosts the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East and has played a major diplomatic role in recent ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The country also purchased more than 35 F-15 fighter jets from the U.S. in 2020.
An Air Force environmental study completed in 2022 suggested that Mountain Home AFB could house up to 12 Qatari F-15 jets and roughly 300 combined Qatari and U.S. personnel once the training program is fully operational.
The Pentagon’s training programs for foreign pilots came under national scrutiny in 2019 after a Saudi trainee shot and killed three U.S. service members at Naval Air Station Pensacola. The FBI later confirmed he was in contact with al-Qaida. While the U.S. expelled 21 other Saudi trainees following the incident, it continued foreign training programs — a precedent now being revisited in the context of the Qatar agreement.
Loomer referenced the tragedy in her criticism, writing: “Why are we trying to train more Muslims how to fly planes on US soil? Didn’t we already learn our lesson?”
Construction timelines for the Idaho facility have not been released, but Pentagon officials insist the arrangement is both standard practice and strategically important.
As global tensions rise and Middle East alliances shift, the Idaho project is now shaping into a political litmus test — not just for U.S. defense strategy, but for how far America is willing to extend its partnerships when public opinion is deeply divided.
Originally reported by Konstantin Toropin Associated Press in ABC News.
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