Media: Türkiye and Qatar emerge as pillars of Trump’s new Middle East vision

According to Middle East Eye, Syria serves as a clear example where Qatari financial support and gas supplies, combined with Türkiye’s military power, are helping the war-ravaged country recover. This aligns with Trump’s pledge to end Western intervention and nation-building efforts in the region.

The growing influence of Türkiye and Qatar has not gone unnoticed by Arab officials. One senior Arab official told Middle East Eye, “Trump has too much on his plate: China, Iran negotiations, the war in Ukraine. He doesn’t want to get involved. In Syria, he has two local allies who are willing to intervene in even the smallest details of Syria’s reconstruction. He intends to rely on them.”

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been paying the salaries of Syrian government workers. Since March, Qatar has been supplying gas to Syria through Jordan. Meanwhile, Türkiye is negotiating with Damascus on a defence agreement amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Syria.

It is unsurprising that Türkiye and Qatar are the most active regional powers in Syria. Türkiye, sharing an extensive border with Syria, was the last major backer of the rebels fighting to topple Bashar al-Assad after most Gulf monarchies abandoned the opposition. Qatar stood out as the sole Gulf state recognising and supporting the Syrian opposition.

The biggest collaboration between Türkiye and Qatar in Syria was finalised in May. Alongside the U.S., they signed a $7 billion energy deal to construct four gas-fired power plants and one solar power plant aimed at replenishing Syria’s depleted energy resources. The Qatari construction and energy firm UCC, owned by the well-known al-Hayaat family, is set to lead the initiative.

At the signing ceremony in Damascus, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack praised “the coming together of these amazing countries.” He described Qatar as “a young and thriving nation, one of the most incredible and ancient civilisations in Syria,” and Türkiye as “one of the most dominant empires ever to exist in the Ottoman Empire and its legacy.”

Barrack framed Syria as a representation of Trump’s vision for the Middle East, where the U.S. empowers local countries to correct the colonial-era errors of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which Britain and France used to divide Syria during World War I.

“That mistake cost generations. We will not repeat it,” Barrack wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Trump’s embrace of Qatari and Turkish investments in Syria highlights how swiftly regional alliances have shifted. In 2017, Trump gave a White House speech supporting the blockade against Qatar. Until recently, Eric Treager, Trump’s Middle East director at the National Security Council, had been critical of Qatar.

Natasha Hall, a Syria expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), commented on the evolving U.S. stance: “You certainly have those in the administration, not the Witkoffs or Barracks, who still believe in a Muslim Brotherhood boogeyman. This is deep-seated. So it’s interesting to see Trump’s really close cohort move beyond this,” referencing U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Both of Trump’s close advisers maintain strong relationships with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

By Tamilla Hasanova