“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and greatly taking risks with us to broker peace does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Tuesday press briefing.
“The President views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of this attack. President Trump wants all of the hostages in Gaza and the bodies of the dead released and this war to end now,” she added.
The administration was notified of the strike by the U.S. military, Leavitt said. It’s unclear how the military was made aware of the plans. Leavitt added Trump directed special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform Qatari officials of the “impending attack.”
The president spoke with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack and reiterated that he wants “peace,” she continued.
The raid was immediately condemned by Qatar and its neighboring states, warning that the attack risks escalating tensions in the region. The leaders of France and the United Kingdom also criticized the attack.
After the attack, Trump also spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to Leavitt.
Trump sought to further distance himself from Israel’s attack in Qatar, posting an addendum to an earlier statement from the White House that specified the decision was made by Israel’s leader and that the US learned of it too late to intervene.
“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social today, inserting the line into a statement read earlier from the White House briefing room by Leavitt.
Trump added that by the time his administration learned of the attack and told the Qataris, there was little he could do to stop it.
“I immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack,” Trump wrote.
The president also said he directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to finalize a defense cooperation agreement with Qatar, though the two countries have an existing pact that Trump amended when he visited Qatar in May.