US President Donald Trump hosted Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani for dinner in New York on Friday, days after an Israeli strike in Doha killed several Hamas officials. The meeting capped a day of high-level contacts between the Qatari leader and senior US figures. Earlier, secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice president JD Vance held talks with Sheikh Mohammed at the White House, highlighting Washington’s effort to balance relations with both Israel and Qatar.Trump was joined at the dinner by middle east special envoy Steve Witkoff, as the president marked the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York.“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said through a post on X.Qatar’s foreign ministry said that Vance and Rubio praised Qatar’s “tireless mediation efforts and its effective role in bringing peace to the region,” describing Doha as a “reliable strategic ally of the United States of America.”Al Thani, meanwhile, said, “the State of Qatar will take all measures to protect its security and safeguard its sovereignty in the face of the blatant Israeli attack,” through a statement, as cited by the Times of Israel. Trump had said earlier that he was “not thrilled about [the] whole situation” following Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar. He further cautioned that the attack could undermine ongoing efforts to secure a fragile Gaza ceasefire.“I’m not thrilled about the whole situation. It’s not a good situation,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “But I will say this, we want the hostages back, but we are not thrilled about the way that went down,” he said, adding that he was unhappy about every aspect. The statement followed an Israeli airstrike on residential buildings in Doha’s Katara district, where Hamas leaders had gathered to discuss Trump’s Gaza ceasefire proposal. Though the top officials escaped unharmed, six people, including a Qatari security officer, were killed. Qatar condemned the strike as “state terrorism” and vowed to respond.Trump has sought to distance himself from the strike, saying it “does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” and assured Qatar that such an incident would not be repeated. The United States also backed a UN Security Council statement condemning the attack, though it did not name Israel, as reported by AP.Despite strains between Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Rubio will travel to Israel on Sunday for a two-day visit. During the trip, he will meet families of hostages still held by Hamas, many of whom oppose Israel’s plans to occupy Gaza City. Rubio will “underscore that their relatives’ return remains a top priority,” the US State Department said.
