Fact Check: Old video of US President Trump quoting Qatar as ‘Funder of Terrorism’ falsely claimed as recent

Siddharth Urmil March 11, 2025

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Claim

A viral video of US President Donald Trump shows that he has returned from a recently concluded conference. In the wake of this conference, he has decided to take action against the nation of Qatar to stop funding terrorism.

A screenshot from a tweet by user "Furat shalbī" features a video of former US President Donald Trump speaking at a press conference. Trump is seen standing at a podium outdoors, delivering remarks with a serious expression. Behind him, a flag is visible along with a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) watermark in the top right corner. The Arabic caption falsely claims that Trump declared Qatar as a historic funder of terrorism and mentioned plans for action against the country for failing to curb terror financing. The tweet alleges that Qatar, along with Turkey, is a primary supporter of jihadist terrorism.

Link

The video is shared with text in Arabic, Trump says: “It is unfortunate that the State of Qatar has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level. We have to stop the funding of terrorism. They have to stop that funding and their extremist ideology in terms of funding.” This is an important warning because Qatar is the first state sponsoring jihadist terrorism, along with Türkiye..!!”

Fact Check

To authenticate the video, DFRAC carefully analyzed the 2-minute, 26-second clip featuring President Trump discussing action against Qatar, labeling it a high-level funder of terrorism. He also mentioned Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and military officials.

A screenshot from a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) YouTube video shows former US President Trump speaking at a press conference. Trump is seen standing behind a podium with a serious expression, delivering remarks in front of a background featuring a flag and a building with white-framed windows. The video title reads: "Trump: Qatar Funds Terrorism at 'Very High Level'". The video's upload date is clearly marked as June 12, 2017, confirming that this is old footage. The video had 6,722 views at the time of the screenshot. This image was shared as part of a DFRAC fact-check, exposing the false narrative that this statement was recent. The content highlights how the old video was misleadingly reshared to create confusion about Trump's current stance on Qatar.

Link

The reference to Tillerson raised suspicion. A keyword search—”Trump speech mention Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and Qatar a funder of terrorism”—led to a Wall Street Journal video titled “Trump: Qatar Funds Terrorism at ‘Very High Level’,” uploaded on June 12, 2017. Supporting reports from AP (June 10, 2017) and Time (June 9, 2017) confirmed Trump’s statements on Qatar.

A fact-check comparison image from DFRAC highlights two news sources revealing the true context of former USA President Donald Trump's remarks about Qatar. On the left, an Associated Press (AP) article titled "Trump slams Qatar for funding terror as Tillerson urges calm" is shown, published on June 10, 2017, at 6:58 AM GMT+5:30. The article describes Trump's statement condemning Qatar for allegedly funding terrorism "at a very high level," contradicting his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had urged Qatar's neighbors to ease their blockade.

According to the Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, Rex Tillerson served as the 69th U.S. Secretary of State from February 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, during Trump’s first term. Currently, Marco Rubio holds the position, having assumed office with Trump’s second presidency.