Qatar’s press communications to right-wing media have increased by more than half since Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, The Washington Examiner reported last Saturday, after analyzing records by the Department of Justice.
To advance this effort, Qatar arranged a high-profile interview between Tucker Carlson and its prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, paying a US firm $180,000 per month to assist in making the interview happen, the report noted.
Foreign Agents Registration Act filings revealed that Lumen8 Advisors LLC, a little-known legal consulting firm, played a role in arranging the meeting between Carlson and al-Thani.
The report quoted Anna Jacobs, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, in response to the Carlson interview: “Qatar wants to further cement ties with Trump and allies for many reasons, including to defend itself against Republican attacks for its relationship with Hamas and Iran.”
However, Carlson was not Qatar’s sole target in their goal to hold influence over conservative media. Qatar also engaged with conservative outlets such as Fox News, the New York Post, Just The News, and the Daily Mail, and in some cases, favorable coverage followed shortly after their outreach.
Critics of Qatar’s lobbying
Critics are concerned that Qatar is trying to soften its image in the US, especially due to its ties with groups like Hamas and Iran. Furthermore, additional ethical concerns were raised with Qatar’s gift of a $400 million jet to the US government.
Additionally, Attorney General Pam Bondi, who previously lobbied for Qatar, announced that the Department of Justice would restrict enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to “conduct similar to more traditional espionage.”
This change effectively granted 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.
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