White House Says Eliminating Hamas A ‘Worthy Goal,’ But Trump ‘Feels Badly’ About Doha Strike

The White House issued a statement Tuesday saying President Donald Trump “feels badly about the location of the attack” in Doha but maintained that eliminating Hamas remains a “worthy goal.”

According to the statement read by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during Tuesday’s press conference, Trump was informed that Israel was striking Hamas targets, unfortunately located in Qatar’s capital. It stated that the president immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to notify Qatari officials of the impending assault. 

“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is bravely working with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” the statement read. “However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”

The White House added that Trump spoke with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatari leaders following the strike. Netanyahu told Trump he wants to “make peace and quickly,” while Trump assured Doha that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil.” 

The statement said the President believes the incident “could serve as an opportunity for peace” and reiterated his demand for all hostages and the remains of the dead in Gaza to be released.

Meanwhile, Hamas officials reportedly said their leadership survived what they called a “cowardly assassination attempt” in Doha. According to a report by Doha-based Al Jazeera, five Hamas members were killed in the bombing, including the son and office manager of senior leader Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas reportedly said the attack would not alter its negotiating stance and accused Washington of bearing responsibility for the strike.

U.S. equities traded marginally higher during afternoon trade on Tuesday after the Labor Department revised down its payroll figures for the 12 months through March, cutting total job gains by 911,000 and adding to geopolitical jitters. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) rose 0.13%, Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.12%, and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) climbed 0.42%. Despite the gain, retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the DIA trended in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day.

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