Qatar has ties to Iran, but Trump eyes ‘investments’ ahead of talks with emir

President didn’t mention Jared Kushner’s Middle East peace plan during dinner for al-Thani

ANALYSIS — Escalating a name-calling feud with your closest ally’s envoy to your government and threatening another with trade penalties is an unconventional way to build a coalition. But amid tensions with Iran, President Donald Trump is doing just that.

The U.S. leader is slated to meet privately Tuesday afternoon with Qatar’s ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in the Oval Office. The duo will have no shortage of things to discuss, from how to combat Iran’s increasingly aggressive actions related to its nuclear program to Qatar’s ongoing spat with some close American allies.

But before his meeting with al-Thani, the president appeared to have woken up fired up. He posted tweets continuing to slam Sir Kim Darroch, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Washington, after cables leaked over the weekend of the British diplomat describing Trump and his administration as “clumsy and inept.”

View the complete July 9 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.