Today, President Trump is expected to pay a formal visit to Qatar, whose rulers recently made him a present of a $400 million jet. The editors of National Review object to this gift for multiple reasons, among them:

Qatar is no friend. Its government funds Al Jazeera, the anti-American propaganda channel. It funneled billions of dollars to Hamas, helping the terrorist group build up the infrastructure that allowed it to carry out the October 7 attacks. After the attacks, Qatar issued a statement calling “Israel alone responsible” for the massacre. For years, it hosted Hamas leaders and refused to use its influence to force the freeing of hostages (the release of American hostage Edan Alexander on Monday at the behest of Qatar demonstrates how much control the government could have exerted all along). Qatar has supported the Houthis for years and allied itself with Iran.

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.