A GOP congressman is raising concerns about Qatar‘s growing influence in the United States, and with the Trump administration, after visiting the Middle East.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) said Qatar was a main topic on his trip last week to Israel when he spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the war against Hamas and President Donald Trump’s effort to strike a nuclear deal with Iran.

“Iran is one,” Stutzman said. “But Qatar — Qatar came up quite a bit over there,” Stutzman told the Washington Examiner in his first interview about his meeting with Netanyahu.

As Trump is relying on Qatar for hostage release talks and supplying him with a new presidential airplane, Stutzman said Doha cannot be trusted. Israel has also been skeptical of Qatar, which houses Hamas’s international leaders outside Gaza and is a large financial backer.

Aside from offering Trump a luxurious Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to be used as Air Force One, Qatar has sent money to U.S. politicians, donating nearly $700,000 to members of Congress and other officials since 2020, the Washington Examiner previously reported.

Stutzman believes the U.S. should investigate Qatar’s operations and its ties to Hamas and terrorism.

Recommended Stories

• Comer subpoenas Biden physician Kevin O'Connor in expanding House Oversight investigation
• House Oversight Democrats fail to subpoena Musk again
• Labor secretary grilled over Job Corps pause

“They’re not part of the Israeli or the Abraham Accords, and so, you know what is, what are their operations intended to be? It almost seems like they’re playing both sides,” Stutzman speculated. 

Ali Al Ansari, Qatar’s Media Attaché to the U.S., denied that Qatar has provided financial support to Hamas in a statement to the Washington Examiner. 

“All financial assistance from Qatar to Gaza is directed to civilians and has been coordinated with the United Nations and Israeli authorities on the ground,” Al Ansari said. “All goods, including food, medicine, and fuel, entered Gaza through Israel and were rigorously inspected to ensure they reached the intended recipients.”

Stutzman also questioned the country’s donations to U.S. universities and Qatar’s intentions.

“Qatar has funded a lot of these Middle Eastern study programs at our universities, and I think there needs to be questions about, you know, why, and what are they teaching? And, you know, what are the intentions?” Stutzman asked.

Donations from Qatar, which are often funneled through the Qatar Foundation established by the emir of Qatar, have reached at least $4.7 billion over the last two decades, according to annual disclosure data collected by the Department of Education.

Al Ansari said Qatar “never interferes” in the educational curriculum of U.S. colleges.

“Allegations that Qatar has any influence over US universities are categorically false and based on deliberate misinformation,” he said. “For several months, we have been the target of a campaign by bad actors whose goal is to weaken Qatar’s partnership with the United States and undermine our role as a mediator to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bring the remaining hostages home.”

Stutzman’s questioning of where Qatar’s money is funneling comes after the Arab country donated a luxury jet to the U.S. to be retrofitted for use as Air Force One for Trump. 

The donation has been met with heavy scrutiny from Democrats, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introducing a bill last month to ban the use of a foreign plane as Air Force One. The measure ultimately failed in the Republican-led Senate. 

Stutzman said while he trusts Trump and the military to ensure the plane is safe and secure for presidential use, he believes Qatar’s donation is part of the country’s effort to curry favor with power brokers.

“I do think this is part of the way Qatar plays is that they are trying to buy influence around the world,” Stutzman said. “My belief is that we just need to ask questions to be sure that they’re not also funding terrorist organizations.”

But Stutzman’s visit to Israel may have also opened the door for the freshman Republican to be a political middleman between the Jewish state and Syria as the two nations work to establish a diplomatic relationship. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Stutzman also met with Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa earlier this year during a separate trip he had to Syria, possibly putting him in a unique position to help bridge the two governments.

“I’ve had some of the Syrian folks reach out to me and ask if I would be willing to bridge them with the Israeli government, and so we’re going to work on that,” Stutzman said. “…The more people that are talking to each other, the better. And I think that’s where America, we have a unique place, because we can act as a broker.”