WASHINGTON, Oct 11, (AP): The US military is moving forward with plans to build a dedicated facility in Idaho to train pilots from Qatar, an important US ally in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday. Hegseth, who made the announcement during a visit by Qatar's defense minister, said the facility to be built at the Mountain Home Air Force Base would "host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase the lethality, interoperability.” 

The arrangement is not unusual. Pentagon officials noted that similar facilities have been set up for other allies for decades, and the Idaho base already hosts a fighter squadron from Singapore. But the news drew a sharp rebuke from close Trump ally and right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, who called the plan "an abomination” and accused the Qataris of being associated with Islamic terror organizations.

"No foreign country should have a military base on US soil. Especially Islamic countries,” Loomer wrote in one of several social media posts just hours after Hegseth's announcement. Although Loomer holds no formal position within the Trump administration, her online complaints have a history of achieving results.

Her criticisms have led to the firing of officials on the National Security Council, Dr Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine chief, and Gen. Tim Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency. Qatar, which hosts the biggest US military base in the Middle East, made clear that it will not have a base on U.S. soil and that it will cover the costs of building the training facility.

"This will not be a Qatari air base,” the spokesman for the embassy in Washington said in a statement posted on X. "Rather, Qatar has made an initial 10-year commitment to construct and maintain a dedicated facility within an existing US air base, intended for advanced training and to enhance interoperability in defending and advancing our shared interests around the world.”

The statement said the project will create hundreds of jobs for Americans and noted that the planning began several years ago and it received local approval. When asked for more details about the future facility, Hegseth’s office said it had nothing to offer beyond the secretary’s remarks. The announcement comes just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order vowing to use all measures, including US military action, to defend Qatar.