Trump’s unsavory Middle Eastern friends
Turkey and Qatar run counter to U.S. interests and cannot be trusted.
By Joseph Puder
JNS
Jan 25, 2026
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
U.S. President Donald Trump has achieved major domestic economic gains, including drastically reducing the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States and bringing energy costs and the inflation rate down.
In 2021, under President Joe Biden, inflation stood at 7.003%, while in 2025, under Trump, the rate was 2.68%. With other factors at play, the cost of living has risen, and tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have affected consumer prices. However, there has been an appreciable decline in recent weeks in dairy products, including milk, eggs, cheese, and gasoline.
The relative success of Trump’s domestic policies, notwithstanding his current foreign “friends,” is worrisome. During his previous term in office, he scored major triumphs, such as the 2020 Abraham Accords that brought about normalization of relations between Israel and four Arab-Muslim states, including Bahrain, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and partially with Sudan. He also moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018, a pledge made by previous administrations but never realized.
Trump’s present foreign policy in the Middle East is problematic because he is pandering to some of his more unsavory “friends”: the president of Turkey, the emir of Qatar and the president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa. Ostensibly, his romance with al-Sharaa, a jihadist, is meant to please Erdoğan and the Saudis at the expense of the Syrian Kurds, the staunch U.S. allies engaged in the fight against ISIS. It is apparent that Trump is ignoring the quest for self-determination of the Kurdish people and the plight of the besieged Syrian minorities, including the Alawites, Christians and Druze.
On a number of occasions, Trump has referred to Erdoğan as his “close friend” or “good friend,” saying they have a “great relationship.” The U.S. president has emphasized their strong bonds and mutual respect even during periods of significant U.S.-Turkey policy disagreements, as with Turkey’s purchase of Russian missiles, and actions in Syria, including the butchering of Kurdish civilians in northeastern Syria by Turkish military and proxy forces. Strains in their relationship have not deterred Trump from praising Erdoğan’s leadership and seeing him as a key regional partner.
The truth, however, is being obfuscated. Erdoğan is both a dictator and leading antisemite whose strong Muslim Brotherhood ideological leanings pose a threat to Israel and the West.
His megalomaniacal ambitions to expand Turkey’s influence in the hopes of dominating areas where the Ottoman Empire once ruled and beyond is a risky scenario for Israel and the West. Turkey’s expanding relationship with Russia, its actions in Syria and its assertive foreign policy are seen as a challenge to Western interests and have been creating friction with NATO members, some of whom regard Turkey as pursuing an independent, multipolar agenda.
Additionally, its increased trade with Iran—a key adversary of the West—signals a shift away from traditional Western alliances. As of January 2026, Ankara is reportedly in talks with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to form an Islamic NATO pact. Critics warn this “Islamic NATO” could undermine nonproliferation efforts by bringing Turkey closer to Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities.
Jerusalem and foreign security officials view Turkey as an immediate threat that may eventually surpass the risks posed by Iran. Turkey has established a dominant military presence in Syria, propping up al-Sharaa, and directing him against Israel and the Kurds.
Trump has refrained from supporting America’s Kurdish allies (Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF) in Syria, who are being subjugated by Erdoğan, whose proxy jihadist forces of al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have now been integrated into the Syrian army and the Syrian National Army (SNA), both instruments of Erdoğan’s terror.
Turkey’s actions have further diverged from NATO goals regarding counterterrorism (hindering missions against ISIS) and the promotion of democracy. Its “double game” of balancing NATO membership with Russian military purchases and BRICS interest is making a mockery of the alliance’s founding principles. The Muslim Brotherhood ideology within Turkey has been described by analysts as a “systemic, long-term penetration” of Western societies, both culturally and educationally.
Qatar, the financier of the Muslim Brotherhood and a supporter of Hamas, has perverted American higher education while spreading antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-Western propaganda on U.S. college campuses and beyond with impunity.
An explosive report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), cited by the New York Post, claims that Qatar has invested roughly $20 billion in American schools and universities as part of a strategy to promote Islamist ideologies. ISGAP notes that the funding aligns with the objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood and represents a deliberate influence campaign on U.S. campuses. The report also points to the support by the Qatar Foundation for campus organizations such as the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and Students for Justice in Palestine, described by ISGAP as being particularly effective in spreading the goals of the Muslim Brotherhood among university students.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), boycotted and expelled Qatar due to its support for Islamic terrorism and close ties with Iran.
Last week, Trump unveiled a Gaza Executive Board to oversee the postwar management of the Gaza Strip, which includes representatives from Turkey and Qatar—choices Israel bitterly opposes. Those two nations are wholly committed to having the terrorist group Hamas remain in control in Gaza, which contradicts Trump’s stated commitment to disarm and end Hamas hegemony in the Strip.
The U.S. president recently learned a lesson about his “friends” Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey when they lobbied Washington against attacking Iran and communicated to Tehran that their territories would not be used as launching pads against the ayatollahs. The question begs to be asked: Why hasn’t Trump learned, by now, that when the chips are down, Israel is the only ally America can rely on in the region?
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