WAHSINGTON, DC– President Donald Trump on Friday called on Qatar to stop funding extremism in the Middle East, applauding a recent decision by Gulf allies to cut ties with the nation.
“The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level,” Trump said at a White House Rose Garden press conference.
“We have to stop the funding of terrorism. I decided along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, our great generals, and military people, the time had come to call on Qatar to end its extremist ideology in terms of funding,” he added.
Trump noted the decision came after his trip to Saudi Arabia, where he addressed a summit of Arab nations and called for them to help end terrorism.
“In the wake of that conference, nations came together and spoke to me about confronting Qatar over its behavior. So we had a decision to make. Do we take the easy road, or do we finally take a hard but necessary action?” he said.
But he also encouraged Qatar, adding, “We want you back among the unity of responsible nations.”
Trump has made tackling terrorism one of the key priorities of his administration.
Trump also called on “all the nations” to stop immediately supporting terrorism, “stop teaching people to kill other people,” and “stop filling their minds with hate and intolerance.”
“I won’t name other countries but we are not done solving the problem, but we will solve that problem,” he said.
He also thanked Saudi Arabia and King Salman for participating in the summit. He said he hoped it would be the beginning of the end of funding terrorism.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) praised the president’s remarks.
“President Trump is right to support the Arab-led effort to change Qatar’s behavior once and for all. This situation is a strategic opportunity to seize, not a crisis to manage,” he said.
“Qatar’s support for terrorist organizations, especially Hamas, threatens the security of its neighbors and the United States, impedes progress toward peace in the Holy Land, and encourages malign activities by other Middle East nations.”