America First is slowly becoming 1- America for sale to anyone willing to pay and 2- America bailing out bankrupt countries ruled by Radical Right dictators.
Whether Idaho potato heads or midwest morons from Iowa and Indiana: You voted for Trump and he is now SCREWING YOU.
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US announces it will allow Qatar to build an Air Force facility in Idaho
Natasha Bertrand, CNN
Sat, October 11, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomes Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, at the Pentagon on October 10, 2025. - Ken Cedeno/Reuters
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that the US will allow Qatar to build an Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, which will host Qatari F-15 fighter jets and pilots who will train alongside US troops.
“The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase the lethality, interoperability,” Hegseth said during a meeting with his Qatari counterpart Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at the Pentagon. “It’s just another example of our partnership. And I hope you know, Your Excellency, that you can count on us.”
The announcement of the deal comes just weeks after Trump signed an executive order for the US to guarantee the security of Qatar — a significant commitment to a non-NATO, Arab ally. Israel had bombed Qatar several days earlier as part of an operation against Hamas officials living in Doha. But sources told CNN that the plan to build the Qatari facility has been in the works for several years, dating back to the previous administration.
A US official said the agreement with Qatar is routine and something the Air Force has done for decades with other partner nations including Germany and Singapore.
Hegseth later on Friday wrote in a post on X, “The U.S. military has a long-standing partnership w/ Qatar, including today’s announced cooperation w/ F-15QA aircraft,” emphasizing there will be no Qatari owned base in the US.
But a close ally of Donald Trump, far-right activist Laura Loomer, has posted on X more than a dozen times since the deal was announced calling it “outrageous,” “an abomination,” and a “betrayal.”
Hegseth praised Qatar for playing a “substantial role” in the peace talks that led to a ceasefire and hostage swap deal between Israel and Hamas, as well as the Gulf country’s support when the US struck Iranian nuclear sites in June. Qatar is also home to the largest US military base in the region at Al-Udeid.
The Qatar facility specifically has been in the works for several years; a 2022 announcement from Mountain Home Air Force Base, published while President Joe Biden was in office, provided the results of an environmental assessment looking at the “potential impacts associated with the beddown of a US-led Qatar Emiri Air Force F-15QA squadron” at the base.
The “beddown” is facilities for the training squadron’s operations, the US official said, providing space for the pilots to train, brief, do their scheduling, and more. The countries who send pilots as part of this program provide the US funds through foreign military sales to build the facilities, the official added, and the military hires community labor around the bases to build them out.
The final environmental impact report published in 2022 said it was for “the beddown of 12 F-15QA permanently assigned QEAF aircraft and associated equipment, use of the Mountain Home Air Force Base airfield and special use airspace and military training routes for training, use of defensive countermeasures and ordnance, approximately 300 additional QEAF and United States Air Force personnel, and the construction and modification of facilities and infrastructure needed to support the beddown.”
The report said basing and operations were expected to begin in early Fiscal Year 2024, with an initial timeline of 10 years and an option to extend further if needed.
“We further welcome today’s signing of the letter of acceptance establishing a Qatar Emiri Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho,” al Thani said. “This step strengthens interoperabilities, enhances joint readiness, and advances our shared defense goals. Mr. Secretary, together we will continue to deepen this strategic partnership in pursuit of lasting peace and shared security.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
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USA TODAY
Farmers struggle under Trump's tariffs. But he has a plan ... to save Argentina. | Opinion
Opinion by Chris Brennan, USA TODAY
American farmers, now struggling due to President Donald Trump's chaotic tariff policies, are in the middle of the annual soybean harvest.
And Trump has a plan – to rescue Argentina – even as that country exacerbates the economic harm felt by American soybean farmers.
Trump has always valued a slapdash scramble on the fly more than a long-term, cohesive plan. Just consider how this has played out in recent weeks. Soybeans are planted in May or June and harvested in September and October. Everyone, farmers and politicians, knows that timeline.
In 2024, American soybeans were a nearly $25 billion export, with China as the top importer, spending $12.6 billion.
A year later, thanks to Trump's frenetic tariff spree, China has so far bought zero American soybeans. The largest customer for American farmers is shopping somewhere else, just as the crop is coming in.
Guess where that takes us: Argentina is more than happy to sell China soybeans. China bought a quarter of Argentina's soybean crop on Sept. 23, 7 million metric tons. And China got a good deal, since Argentina suspended export taxes on that purchase.
Trump wants to make Argentina great again, apparently
Where was Trump while all that went down?
He was meeting at the United Nations on Sept. 23 with Argentine President Javier Milei, an international political ally, offering his "full backing and endorsement" for Milei's second-term bid two years from now, even as he struggles right now to get Argentina's tumultuous economy under control.
A journalist at the U.N. asked the U.S. president that day if he would bail out Argentina. Trump answered that he didn't think that would be necessary, since he thought Milei has "done a fantastic job."
That position didn't survive 24 hours.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who met with Milei and Trump at the U.N., announced on social media the next morning that "we stand ready to do what is needed to support Argentina." Bessent said that included a "$20 billion swap line," an infusion of American dollars in Argentina's central bank.
In other words, a BAILOUT – the thing Trump said the day before wasn't necessary. The politician who compulsively speaks about what a great dealmaker he is looks like he got played here.
American soybean farmers now sound like they're not so sure which side Trump is on.
Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky soybean farmer and president of the American Soybean Association, pointed out the curious timing of Argentina dropping export taxes right as it sold crops to China and heard about an American bailout.
"U.S. soybean farmers have been clear for months: the administration needs to secure a trade deal with China," Ragland wrote in a Sept. 24 statement released by his association. "China is the world's biggest soybean customer and typically our top export market. The U.S. has made zero sales to China in this new crop marketing year due to 20% retaliatory tariffs imposed by China in response to U.S. tariffs."
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