President Donald Trump has bestowed upon the nation of Qatar a remarkable security guarantee that could include coming to its defense militarily.
In an executive order dated earlier this week, Trump declared that the United States will regard any attack on Qatar’s territory, sovereignty or critical infrastructure “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States” itself.
And perhaps most crucially, the order suggests the US might come to Qatar’s defense militarily.
“In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability,” the order says.
This is an extraordinary development in Trump’s controversial relations with the Middle East, for several reasons.
Trump is giving Qatar a NATO-esque security guarantee
Quite notably, the language of the executive order closely resembles the security guarantee that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) gives to member countries. (Qatar is not in NATO, though the Biden administration in 2022 labeled it a major non-NATO ally.)
Article 5 of NATO says that member nations like the United States agree that an armed attack against one of them shal
Continue Reading on CNN
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.