When U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stepped up to the podium at the Pentagon on October 10, 2025, flanked by Qatari Defense Minister Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, he likely expected a routine announcement about military cooperation. Instead, he ignited a political firestorm that quickly engulfed social media, cable news, and the halls of Congress. The source of the uproar? Hegseth’s declaration that the U.S. military would provide Qatar with access to a facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Elmore County, Idaho.
“I’m also proud that today we’re announcing we’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho,” Hegseth said, adding, “The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots.” According to the Associated Press, the new facility is not a standalone base, but rather a group of buildings to handle training and maintenance for Qatari troops operating F-15QA fighter jets, which Qatar purchased through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program back in 2017.
But nuance rarely stands a chance once the political machine gets rolling. Within hours, posts from across the political spectrum flooded social media, with many users—especially right-wing influencers—decrying what they perceived as a foreign military base on American soil. Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist and a stalwart of the Trump movement, blasted the decision, telling Newsweek, “There should never be a military base of a foreign power on the sacred soil of America.” Laura Loomer, a prominent conservative activist, was even more forceful, calling the plan “an abomination” and asking on X (formerly Twitter), “WTF IS AMERICA FIRST ABOUT ALLOWING QATAR TO HAVE A MILITARY BASE ON US SOIL?” She continued, “By letting funders of HAMAS and the Muslim Brotherhood have a military base on US soil. Un fucking believable. Just unbelievable.”
Yet, as the dust settled, officials scrambled to clarify what was actually happening in Idaho. Hegseth himself, who has taken to calling his post the “secretary of war,” attempted to tamp down the outrage. “Qatar will not have their own base in the United States—nor anything like a base. We control the existing base, like we do with all partners,” he said, seeking to reassure critics that ultimate authority and security would remain firmly in American hands. The Air Force, too, weighed in: spokesperson Ann Stefanek explained, “What we expect is it to be squadron operations and hangars for the F-15QA, because that’s the Qatari version of the jet that they bought through foreign military sales. It is definitely still a U.S. Air Force base.”
Mountain Home Air Force Base, located about 50 miles southeast of Boise and just outside the town of Mountain Home (population 17,000), is no stranger to international partnerships. According to the AP, the Singaporean 428th Fighter Squadron—nicknamed the Buccaneers—has been hosted there since 2008. Across the U.S., similar arrangements abound: German forces trained at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico for decades, and new facilities for international F-35 pilot training were completed at Ebbing Air Force Base in Arkansas just last year.
Still, the Idaho announcement struck a nerve. The memory of a 2019 mass shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station, perpetrated by a Saudi Air Force officer in training, looms large. That incident led to the expulsion of 21 Saudi military students after investigators uncovered anti-American sentiments and other alarming behaviors. For critics like Loomer and Bannon, those events serve as a cautionary tale, and the Idaho facility became a lightning rod for broader anxieties about foreign influence and national security.
Vice President JD Vance, appearing on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” just two days after Hegseth’s announcement, sought to pour cold water on the controversy. “Yeah, I saw some reporting about this, Maria. I actually talked to the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, this morning,” Vance told host Maria Bartiromo. “This is largely a fake story. We continue to have with countries that we work with, we have relationships where sometimes their pilots work on our bases, sometimes that we train together, sometimes we work together in other ways.” He went on to blame “misreporting” for the confusion, insisting, “The reporting that somehow there’s going to be a Qatari base on United States soil, that’s just not true. We are continuing to work with a number of our Arab friends to ensure that we are able to enforce this peace, but we’re not going to let a foreign country have an actual base on American soil.”
The facts back up Vance’s assertion. The facility, according to the Air Force, will be constructed by local Idaho contractors, with all costs covered by Qatar. Security at Mountain Home will remain under the strict control of U.S. Air Force personnel, and anyone entering the base will still need the proper credentials. The base’s mission—“to provide mission-ready Gunfighters to conduct military operations anytime, anywhere”—remains unchanged. The new buildings are intended to support advanced training and maintenance for Qatari pilots operating the F-15QA, a state-of-the-art fighter developed through years of U.S.-Qatari cooperation.
Why does the U.S. host foreign troops and sell advanced weaponry to allied nations like Qatar? The answer, as outlined by the Arms Export Control Act, is rooted in foreign policy and national security. The U.S. government sells defense equipment and services to promote peace, strengthen alliances, and enhance the security of both the United States and its partners. As Stefanek put it, “This partnership will provide advanced training opportunities and foster combined operational readiness for our two countries.” Hegseth echoed that sentiment, saying the Idaho facility would “enhance our combined training, increase lethality, and interoperability between nations.”
Local impacts are also in play. The construction work will bring jobs to Idaho, with local crews building the new facilities and likely supporting ongoing operations. The Mountain Home base itself is a significant presence in the region, housing the 366th Fighter Wing and more than 50 F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft, as well as about 5,100 military and civilian members and 3,500 family members.
The origins of the Qatari partnership stretch back nearly a decade. Qatar’s decision to purchase the F-15QA aircraft from the U.S. was finalized in 2017, and discussions about training Qatari pilots in the U.S. began soon after. An environmental assessment of the Mountain Home site started around 2020 and wrapped up in 2022, ensuring that the new facilities would not adversely affect the surrounding high desert plateau—an ideal spot for fighter pilot maneuvers, thanks to its wide-open spaces and relative isolation.
Despite these reassurances and the long history of similar training arrangements, the Idaho facility remains a political flashpoint. For some, it’s a necessary step in maintaining strong alliances and ensuring U.S. security in a turbulent world. For others, it’s a dangerous precedent that opens the door to foreign influence and potential threats on American soil. The debate, in many ways, mirrors the broader tensions in American politics—between international engagement and isolationism, between trust in long-standing alliances and fear of new risks.
As the story continues to unfold, one thing is clear: the lines between fact and perception, policy and politics, are as blurred as ever. In the high desert of Idaho, a few new hangars may soon rise—but the debate about what they represent for America’s future is only just beginning.
