Related Topics: Military Headlines^[3] Department of Defense - DoD^[4] Aircraft^[5] China^[6]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has directed the Defense Department to use “all available funds” to ensure U.S. troops are paid^[1] Wednesday despite the government shutdown^[2], a short-term fix that will not apply to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed.

Trump said in a social media post that he was acting because “our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th.”

The Republican president's directive removes one of the pressure points that could have forced Congress into action, likely ensuring that the shutdown — now in its 11th day and counting — extends into a third week and possibly beyond. But no similar action seems forthcoming for federal employees also working without pay while thousands are now being laid off^[3] during the lapse in government operations. The White House budget office started the layoffs on Friday.

Trump blamed Democrats and said he was exercising his authority as commander in chief to direct Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th.” The Republican president added, "We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS.”

U.S service members were in danger of not receiving their next paycheck on Wednesday after the government shut down on Oct. 1, the start of the federal budget cycle. The U.S. has about 1.3 million active-duty service members, and the prospect of troops going without pay has been a focal point when lawmakers on Capitol Hill have discussed the shutdown’s negative impact.

Trump did not say where he's getting the money, but a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget said Pentagon research and development funds would be tapped.

The Pentagon said it identified about $8 billion of unobligated research development testing and evaluation funds from the last fiscal year that will be used to issue the mid-month paychecks, “in the event the funding lapse continues past October 15th.”

Federal workers typically receive back pay after a shutdown ends, as now required by a law that Trump signed during his first term. He recently floated the idea of not making up the lost salaries.

It was unclear if the president’s directive applies to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces but is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime.

The nation’s third shutdown in 12 years^[4] has again raised anxiety levels among service members and their families as those in uniform are working without pay. While they would receive back pay once the impasse ends, many military families live paycheck to paycheck.

During previous shutdowns, Congress passed legislation^[5] to ensure that troops kept earning their salaries, but discussion of taking a similar step by lawmakers appeared to have fizzled out.

Asked earlier this week if he would support a bill to pay the troops, Trump said, “that probably will happen.”

“We’ll take care of it,” he said Wednesday. “Our military is always going to be taken care of.”

The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Democrats rejected a short-term funding fix and demanded that the bill include an extension of federal subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The expiration of those subsidies at the end of the year will result in monthly cost increases for millions of people.

Trump and Republican leaders have said they are open to negotiations on the health subsidies, but insist the government must reopen first.

Both sides appear dug in on their positions, making it unclear when, or how, the shutdown ends.

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Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is moving forward with plans to build a dedicated facility in Idaho to train pilots from Qatar, an important U.S. ally in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday.

Hegseth, who made the announcement during a visit by Qatar's defense minister, said the facility to be built at the Mountain Home Air Force Base would “host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase the lethality, interoperability.”

The arrangement is not unusual. Pentagon officials noted that similar facilities have been set up for other allies for decades, and the Idaho base already hosts a fighter squadron from Singapore.

But the news drew a sharp rebuke from close Trump ally and right-wing influencer Laura Loomer^[1], who called the plan “an abomination” and accused the Qataris of being associated with Islamic terror organizations.

“No foreign country should have a military base on US soil. Especially Islamic countries,” Loomer wrote in one of several social media posts just hours after Hegseth's announcement.

Although Loomer holds no formal position within the Trump administration, her online complaints have a history of achieving results. Her criticisms have led to the firing of officials on the National Security Council^[2], Dr. Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine chief,^[3] and Gen. Tim Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency^[4].

Qatar would pay for the construction of the new facility, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide information not publicly released. When asked for more details, Hegseth’s office said it had nothing to offer beyond the secretary’s remarks.

The announcement comes just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order^[5] vowing to use all measures, including U.S. military action, to defend Qatar, which hosts the biggest U.S. military base^[6] in the Middle East.

Loomer also criticized that decision, writing “I don’t want to die for Qatar. Do you?” on social media. However, she was not alone.

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board also questioned the pledge, writing that "this is a decision that can be and should have been debated.

“Instead it comes out of the blue — an executive order following no public debate,” the board wrote.

The small, gas-rich country played a key role^[7] in negotiating the most recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza, as well as in several other key negotiations. Doha, the capital of Qatar, came under surprise attack from Israel last month as members of Hamas were in the city last month to discuss a ceasefire.

Qatar also lavished a $400 million jumbo jet^[8] on Trump for use as Air Force One.

However, the Qataris' connection with U.S. military aviation predates these more recent developments.

In 2020, the U.S. Air Force announced^[9] it has signed a deal with Qatar for the sale of more than 35 F-15 fighter jets.

An Air Force environmental study, completed two years later, revealed that Mountain Home Air Force Base was proposing building a facility that would house 12 Qatari F-15 jets and about 300 additional Qatari and U.S. Air Force personnel.

While the U.S. military has a long history of training pilots for allied countries, the practice received scrutiny in 2019 following a deadly mass shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station that killed three U.S. service members and wounded several others.

The shooter, Mohammad Saeed Al-Shamrani, was a Saudi Air Force officer who was training at the Pensacola base. The FBI said he was linked to the al-Qaida extremist group and had been in contact with it before the shooting.

In the wake of the shooting, the U.S. sent home^[10] 21 other Saudi military students after an investigation revealed each had expressed jihadist or anti-American sentiments on social media pages or had “contact with child pornography,” including in internet chat rooms, according to officials at the time. However, the U.S. continued to train Saudi pilots.

Loomer referenced the incident in her social media posts on Friday. “Why are we trying to train more Muslims how to fly planes on US soil? Didn’t we already learn our lesson?,” she wrote on social media.