US President Donald Trump says that leaders of Saudi Arabia and its regional allies had warned him that Qatar was funding “radical ideology” after he demanded they stop financing militant groups.
Trump made the comments on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and several other countries cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday over allegations that Doha is sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the region.
“During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!,” Trump tweeted, appearing to back Saudi Arabia and its allies in the diplomatic crisis.
Qatar vehemently denies the accusations that it supports extremist groups, calling them baseless. Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Al Jazeera on Monday that the growing tensions were the result of fabrications in Saudi- and Emirati-controlled…