Qatar has increased its outreach to right-wing media outlets by over 50% since Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, The Washington Examiner reported last Saturday, after analyzing records by the US Justice Department.
In an effort to influence conservative-aligned Americans, Qatar arranged a high-profile interview between US political commentator Tucker Carlson and Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the report said.
Qatari agents paid a US firm $180,000 per month for this interview to materialize, it added.
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings revealed that Lumen8 Advisors LLC, a little-known legal consulting firm, played a role in arranging the meeting between Carlson and Thani.
Anna Jacobs, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, told The Washington Examiner in response to the Carlson interview: “Qatar wants to further cement ties with Trump for many reasons, including to defend itself against Republican attacks for its relationship with Hamas and Iran.”
Carlson was far from Qatar’s sole target in its goal to hold influence over conservative media. Doha engaged with conservative news agencies such as Fox News, the New York Post, Just the News, and The Daily Mail. In some cases, favorable coverage shortly followed.
Critics of Qatar's lobbying
Critics are concerned that Qatar is trying to soften its image in the eyes of America, keeping in mind that it is known for having ties with the Iranian regime and with terrorist groups such as Hamas.
Additional concerns were raised regarding the ethical merit of Qatar gifting a $400 million Boeing 747 jet to US President Donald Trump.
US Attorney-General Pam Bondi, who had previously lobbied for Qatar, announced that the Justice Department would abide by FARA guidelines only in cases that consist of “more traditional espionage.”
This change effectively grants countries like Qatar greater freedom to carry out unregistered foreign lobbying, allowing them to influence US policy and media with minimal public transparency, the report noted.
The Qatari embassy did not respond to The Washington Examiner’s request for comment.