US Vice President JD Vance said “misreporting” led to a backlash after the US and Qatar signed an agreement to build a Qatari air force facility in Idaho.
During an appearance on Fox News, Vice President Vance told anchor Maria Bartiromo that he spoke with US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Sunday morning about the announcement.
“This is largely a fake story,” he said. “We continue to have countries that we work with, relationships where sometimes their pilots work on our bases, sometimes we train together.”
“But we're not gonna let a foreign country have an actual base on American soil,” Vice President Vance said.
He added that the US is working with “a number of our Arab friends to ensure that we are able to enforce this peace”, referring to a Gaza ceasefire.
His comments come after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Friday said a facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho would host a contingent of F-15s and pilots to enhance combined training and increase “interoperability” and “lethality”.
“The establishment of an enduring location for Qatari F-15 aircraft at Mountain Home Air Force Base provides Qatar with strategic flexibility to operate and sustain their advanced fighter aircraft,” a US official told The National.
The deal builds on an older agreement and its announcement comes as Washington looks to reassure Qatar of the US commitment to bilateral security ties after Israel bombed Doha last month in a strike targeting Hamas officials.
Mr Hegseth's announcement of the deal sparked a backlash and blamed “a bit of misreporting on that.”
Far-right activist Laura Loomer was among those harshly criticising Mr Hegseth. “This is very bad for our national security,” she posted on X to her 1.8 million social media followers on the platform.
Mountain Home has been used since 2009 by Singapore's air force, which has a detachment of F-15SG combat aircraft there as well as personnel.
The base is home to about 5,100 troops in the 366th Fighter Wing, which “has the firepower of more than 50 F-15E Strike Eagles”, according to its website.
Qatar is home to the US Al Udeid Air Base, which currently hosts about 8,000 American troops. The base is the forward headquarters of US Central Command and was hit in a strike carried out by Iran earlier this year.
The US and Qatar reached a deal in January last year to extend the American military presence at the base, which was used in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Qatar this year gifted Mr Trump a jumbo jet to use as Air Force One. The transaction drew criticism but the President said he would be “stupid” not to take the plane.
