In the headline-grabbing drama of US president versus UK ambassador, one plot point has largely escaped attention: Donald Trump’s first ‘disinviting’ of Kim Darroch was the diplomat’s exclusion from a White House reception on Monday for the visiting ruler of Qatar, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The dinner itself was heavily trade-oriented, with some forty US business leaders invited as well as some diplomats. Its significance, however, lies in the considerable welcome given to Thani while several close allies of the US – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain – are blockading his country.
Rivalry between the Saudi and Qatari royal families goes back many years but came to a head more than two years ago when the Saudis accused Qatar of supporting terrorism. This escalated to the blockade which has held since June 2017, making Trump’s welcome for Thani this week complicated, to say the least. A further difficulty for the US is the diplomatic relations that Qatar maintains with Iran, which is the enemy of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and, of course, of Trump himself.
