Trump signs executive order pledging US defence of Qatar after Israeli strike

Donald Trump has signed an executive order committing the United States to defend Qatar against any external attack, a pledge likened to NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee.

The order, published on the White House website on Wednesday but dated two days earlier, states that Washington would regard “any armed attack” on Qatar as a threat to US peace and security and respond with “all lawful and appropriate measures, including diplomatic, economic and, if necessary, military.”

The move follows an Israeli airstrike in Doha last month that killed six people, including a Qatari security officer, during ceasefire discussions involving Hamas leaders.

While hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday, Trump arranged a call between Netanyahu and the Qatari prime minister, during which the Israeli leader expressed regret over the attack.

Qatar’s foreign ministry welcomed the US pledge as a significant step in deepening bilateral defence ties, while Al Jazeera described the executive order as a guarantee of Qatar’s security.

Trump later spoke by phone with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, though details of the conversation were not disclosed.

The order represents an unusual extension of presidential authority, as binding security guarantees are typically subject to Senate approval. Trump’s decision to make such a unilateral commitment has raised questions over its legal weight, particularly given his previous scepticism towards NATO and multilateral defence obligations.

Analysts noted that the order nonetheless grants the president wide latitude in how the US might respond to any future threat against Qatar.

Qatar, an energy-rich Gulf state with vast natural gas reserves, hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the Middle East. The country was also designated a “major non-NATO ally” by Joe Biden in 2022 for its role in supporting the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump’s personal ties to Qatar include a real estate venture with the Trump Organisation and Doha’s gift of a Boeing 747 jet, which is being refurbished as a potential new Air Force One.

The executive order comes as regional security dynamics shift rapidly. Saudi Arabia has just entered into a mutual defence pact with Pakistan, extending Islamabad’s nuclear umbrella to the kingdom.

Observers say other Gulf states, uneasy over Israel’s military actions and renewed UN sanctions on Iran, may now press for similar assurances from Washington.

“The Gulf’s centrality in the Middle East and its significance to the United States warrants specific US guarantees beyond President Donald J Trump’s assurances of non-repetition and dinner meetings,” noted Bader al-Saif, a historian at Kuwait University.