Trump to welcome Hamas supporter to the White House

The Gulf state has a major lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., and has spent billions trying to influence US policy over the past two decades.

By Alana Goodman, The Washington Free Beacon

US President Donald Trump is reportedly going to meet with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a man who, as Qatar’s prime minister, is a major financial backer of both Hamas and Harvard University.

Al Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister and is a member of the ruling family that also includes Qatar’s emir, arrived in the United States this week for meetings with senior federal officials. They include Trump himself, according to reports.

The meeting comes one day after Harvard sued the Trump administration for freezing more than $2 billion in grants and contracts to the Ivy League university.

It also comes as Qatari officials attempt to revive a Hamas ceasefire deal. Al Thani, in his role as Qatar’s second most powerful official, is a top ally of both parties.

Qatar has given Harvard $3.8 million since 2020, federal records show. It is also one of Hamas’s primary funders and sheltered the terrorist group’s leaders in the wake of Oct. 7.

The Gulf state has a major lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., and has spent billions trying to influence US policy over the past two decades.

The Trump administration has mulled sanctions against some Qatari nationals as part of an effort to crack down on pro-Hamas campus groups, the Washington Free Beacon reported last month.

At the same time, some administration officials and members of Trump’s inner circle have also signaled their support for Qatar.

Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff recently called Qatar an “ally of the United States” and said it has “moderated quite a bit.”

Trump ally Bernard Kerik, the former New York Police Department commissioner, registered as a foreign agent of Qatar earlier this month, according to lobbying disclosure records.