In the recent years, the Qatari press, both within Qatar and outside it, published many articles and cartoons vilifying U.S. President Donald Trump and condemning him, both as an individual and as a statesman. This was especially noticeable during Trump's first term in office in 2017-2021. For example, during the 2020 presidential race and after he lost to Joe Biden, Qatari writers expressed satisfaction over his defeat and described him as "a nightmare weighing on the heart of the world," as a "vulgar" person who "lies constantly" and as an "insufferable" man who would have destroyed the U.S. political system. They also described him as "the main and official sponsor of all forms of terror everywhere" and as a new, "more horrifying version" of Nazism.
Cartoon in Qatari daily: "The end of Trump": the world has relegated Trump to "the trashcan of history" (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, November 8, 2020)
The following are translated excerpts from these articles:
Journalist Who Is Now Spokesperson Of Qatar's Foreign Ministry: "Trump Is A Nightmare Weighing On The Heart Of The World"
Majed Al-Ansari, then a columnist for the Qatari daily Al-Sharq and today an assistant to Qatar's prime minister and spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry, wrote in 2020, on the eve of the elections, that Trump was "a nightmare weighing on the heart of the world" and had led the U.S. and the world to the abyss.
He wrote: "As the date of the [2020] U.S. elections approaches, the world is holding its breath after four years of the presidency of Donald Trump, who, since putting his foot on the gas pedal [of governance], has left no red political [warning] sign unheeded and continues [to hurtle] toward the abyss at a breakneck speed, taking his country and the world with him. More than in any previous election, various countries around the world are waiting for this nightmare, which weighs on the heart of the world, to come to an end..."[1]
Article In Qatari Daily: Trump Is A Rude, Insufferable Liar, Who Had To Be Removed
In November 2020, in response to Trump's defeat in the elections, the Qatari Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily published an article by Lebanese journalist Elias Khoury that vilified Trump and expressed satisfaction at his removal.
He wrote: "[Trump] began his term with a dance in Saudi Arabia and ended it with a dance on the stage of his defeat, on the last day of his [failed election] campaign. The nightmare is over. The real estate mogul and shrewd contractor who climbed to the top of the empire’s pyramid has fallen, along with [his] rudeness, bluntness and vulgarity... He lost [the election] to the weakest candidate in the history of the Democratic Party because the Americans did not vote for Biden, but rather voted to bring down Trump.
"Donald Trump founded the theater of the absurd of international politics: a man who lies constantly and makes random decisions based on his mood... In the end, the 'establishment,' as Trump calls it, won. The man became insufferable on every level, and there was no choice but to remove him in order to prevent the American political system from descending into ruin."[2]
Article In Qatari Daily: Trump Is A More Horrifying And Detestable Version Of Nazism
Against the backdrop of the August 3, 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting, in which a white gunman targeted Latinos and killed over 20 people, Qatar's Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily published an article by Egyptian journalist Wael Qandil that associated the shooting with Trump. Qandil wrote that Trump had taken America back to the darkest periods of human history and was "the main and official sponsor of all forms of terror everywhere."
He wrote: "The world parted ways with Nazism and Fascism more than three-quarters of a century ago, only to have them return in a far more horrifying and detestable version [with the advent of] U.S. President Donald Trump, whose roots lie in the darkest periods of history... This is a president... who fights against human diversity and wants to reshape the maps of humanity according to his own vision... in a way that recalls the behavior of the first invaders who crossed the Atlantic and exterminated the Native Americans, the original inhabitants of the land, in order to establish their New World...
"Trump is taking the U.S. back to the darkest times in human history... This madman seeks to import from the dark [periods of] history all the legacies of the wars of exclusion and extermination, and is leading his country and the entire world toward a clash of civilizations, religions and races... Trump fills his coffers with profits [he makes] from trading in the war on terror, while all the facts indicate that he himself is the main and official sponsor of all forms of terror everywhere..."[3]
Trump as a Nazi (Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, London, July 15, August 5, 2019)