In its morning newsleter, Jewish Insider flags Marc Rod’s story “Influencers, politicians, media execs flock to Qatar despite its baggage.” Access to the story is free but requires submission of an email address and maybe the creation of an account. It’s an important story. This is the summary provided in the newsletter (emphasis and links omitted).
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Qatar, whose ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have drawn scrutiny in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, is doubling down on a charm offensive focused on a handful of GOP lawmakers and conservative social media influencers, all while hosting two of the most established brands in American news.
A group of House Republicans visited Qatar during the House’s Thanksgiving recess last week, including Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Lance Gooden (R-TX). The trip occurred just before the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on legislation that classifies the entire Muslim Brotherhood organization globally as a terrorist group.
A group of conservative social media influencers also visited Qatar over Thanksgiving, posting glowing dispatches lauding the country and its role in hosting a U.S. military base.
Rob Smith, one of the invited guests, posted credulously about Qatar on his Instagram feed after the trip, “I wasn’t aware of a great deal of things about Qatar, only misperceptions and half-truths I’d read about online. When the opportunity was presented to me, with full authority and autonomy to ask the tough questions of the officials I’d be meeting with, I decided to risk any potential criticism and to travel and experience it for myself.”
Meanwhile, numerous prominent celebrities — including comedian Kevin Hart, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and tennis star Novak Djokovic — gathered in Doha over the weekend for the 2025 Formula One Qatar Grand Prix.
And this week, the country is hosting the Doha Forum, a conference co-sponsored by CNN. Those attending the conference include several Trump administration officials and ambassadors, politicians and philanthropists, alongside Israel-bashing officials such as former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, sanctioned U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and former Iran envoy Rob Malley.
Others on the guest list include: Donald Trump Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz, the Heritage Foundation’s Victoria Coates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour and other officials, leaders and analysts from around the world.
Also this week, The Wall Street Journal is hosting a technology conference in Doha, featuring business leaders and celebrities, hosted by various Journal reporters. As JI’s Matthew Kassel reports…, the summit is raising ethical questions surrounding the paper’s deepening business ties with Qatar — even as the Journal’s conservative editorial page has slammed the Gulf monarchy as a financial and diplomatic sponsor of Hamas.
Each of these events comes at a time when Qatar’s complicated public reputation in the United States is becoming a flashpoint, particularly inside the conservative movement.
