Donald Trump has made an awkward Middle East geographical blunder as he heads to Israel for the release of hostages from Gaza.
Trump, 79, was talking to journalists on Air Force One on Sunday when he praised the role of Qatar in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The president called the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, an “amazing man” for his “tremendous” help in mediating the peace deal.
Trump then tried to explain how “tough and dangerous” it was for Qatar to be involved in negotiations, as their geographical position put them in the midst of “unbelievably hostile” territory.
“They were very brave and their leader, The Emir, was very brave,” Trump said. “His country is right in the middle of everything. More so than any other country. His country, you walk across a line and you’re there.”
“Other countries are there, but they’re an hour or an hour and a half away, big difference,” Trump continued. “They’re literally, you walk over from Iran to Qatar. You can walk it in one second. You go ‘boom boom’ and now you’re in Qatar, that’s tough territory.”
Trump’s comments on the proximity of the countries are inaccurate. According to Google Maps, the distance between Iran and Qatar by car is 510 miles, and it would take about 23 hours traveling through Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The two countries do not share a border. A direct flight takes around two hours.
Trump was quickly criticized on social media, with users, including The Washington Post‘s national security reporter John Hudson, calling out his incorrect comments. CBS politics reporter Kathryn Watson also pointed out the error, among others.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump was also asked by reporters what had changed from 2017, when he accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism. At the time, Trump said Qatar had “extremist ideology.”
“So we had a decision to make: do we take the easy road, or do we finally take a hard but necessary action? We have to stop the funding of terrorism,” Trump said in 2017. “The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.”
However, it appears that he has now changed his mind.
“In 2017, I didn’t really know them very well. You know, 2017, that was at the very beginning of my term,” Trump said on Sunday.
“Qatar was a tremendous help to getting this done. I hope people can realize that… They were very brave and their leader, the Emir, was very brave and Qatar should start getting some credit.”
“I think Qatar was amazing the way they helped us.”
The president also took time to discuss how the Middle East ceasefire deal will fit into his legacy.
“This will be my eighth war that I’ve solved,” Trump said. “I’m good at solving wars. I’m good at making peace and it’s an honor to do it. I saved millions of lives. Millions of lives.”
He also addressed missing out on this year’s Nobel Peace Prize award, saying the committee judged on events that took place in 2024.
“There are those that say you can make an exception because a lot of things happened during 2025 that are done and complete and great. But I did this not for Nobel, I did this for saving lives.”
The president added, “I got every one of those done for the most part within a day. It’s pretty good.”
