In the popular film Pushpa: The Rise, there is a scene where Pushpa, played by Allu Arjun, kills a notorious smuggler’s brother-in-law while the man begs for his life over a live call. “You should have called me 5 minutes ago, now it’s too late,” Pushpa says while shooting him. A similar event unfolded on Tuesday when Israel bombed Qatar to target Hamas leaders. Tel Aviv claimed that it had the approval of US President Donald Trump.
“Unfortunately, it was too late to stop the attack,” Trump said casually, acknowledging that Israel had informed the US about the strike.
Trump’s double game
A White House official told The Times of Israel that the US had been notified earlier. However, the warning to Qatar seemed to be too little and too late. Qatar reported that the call from the US came 10 minutes after the attack started in Doha. “The call that was received from an American official came during the sound of the explosions,” tweeted Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry. The fact that the strikes occurred in Qatar, a close ally of the US that has worked to win Trump’s favor, added to the feeling of betrayal.
Did Trump betrayal Qatar with $400 million
Like India, Qatar also experienced Trump’s unpredictability in dealing with allies. Just four months ago, Trump received a luxury Boeing 747-8 jet, called a ‘flying palace’ worth $400 million, during his visit to Qatar. This was the first trip to the Gulf nation by a sitting US President. Trump also secured $8.5 billion in economic deals from Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base, Al Udeid Air Base, in the Middle East.
As a “major non-NATO ally,” Qatar played a key role in evacuating thousands of American citizens from Afghanistan. Additionally, Trump’s son, Eric, arranged a deal for a Trump-branded golf course in Qatar.
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