Trump's ear is the reward for Qatar's long push for soft power

Benjamin Netanyahu had to grovel and Donald Trump's aides had, helpfully, written him a script.

- Steve Bloomfield International Editor

Passed the phone in the Oval Office, the Israeli prime minister took a deep breath and launched into a personal apology to the emir of Qatar for launching airstrikes on Hamas’s negotiating team in Doha. To add insult to injury, the White House later released photos of the phone call. It was for Netanyahu an embarrassment; for the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, it was a symbol of just how far his country has come - and how successful his campaign of influence in America, particularly in Maga world, has been. Qatar has a population of just 3.1 million, of whom only about 400,000 are citizens. But it has the world’s third largest reserves of natural gas and has tried to use that wealth to buy influence and protect itself from bigger neighbours with stronger militaries, particularly Saudi Arabia.