U.S. President Donald Trump met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani over dinner on Friday night, Sept. 12, the White House confirmed to media. No further details were made available, other than various reports that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was also present.
The Prime Minister had met with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for an hour at the White House prior to the dinner. “A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha,” Reuters reported. No other details have been released.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted today that there is some concern in the administration over what joint measures might be adopted against Israel at the Sept. 15 emergency Arab-Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Doha over the bombing. Rubio told reporters, as he was waiting on the tarmac to board a plane to Israel, that “we” had talked to Sheikh Mohammed “a little bit about it yesterday. I’m not sure that he had settled on exactly what it is they’re going to ask of their allies in the region…. Obviously we’re not going to be at that meeting,” he added.
