The Qatari government has sought to acquire a major stake in Newsmax, the conservative media company run by President Donald Trump’s friend Chris Ruddy, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

Qatari officials met with Newsmax representatives on multiple occasions this year, according to the people familiar with the dealings. Ruddy, reached for comment, declined to address specific questions, saying only “this is all false.”


A spokesman for the Qatari embassy also declined to comment.

The two people familiar with Qatar’s interest in Newsmax say the talks with the company have been overseen by Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, a younger brother of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. They came during a mad scramble by the wealthy Gulf monarchy to win friends and clout in the United States as it struggled to respond to a Trump-endorsed blockade by its Arab neighbors.

The current status of the talks is unclear. An investment would make the Qataris business partners with an influential confidant of the president and bolster their clout in the world of conservative U.S. media. Trump initially endorsed efforts by Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states to isolate Qatar last summer, calling it a “funder of terrorism.” But the president has since softened his stance as a months-long lobbying campaign by the country appears to be yielding results.

Morning Media Your guide to the media circus — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Last month, Trump met with Emir Al Thani in the Oval Office and called him “a great friend of mine.”

“The Qataris have solidified their network of political and economic partnerships in the U.S. since the start of the Gulf crisis last June,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, a Gulf expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute for foreign policy, adding that they “have worked assiduously to overcome any misgivings President Trump may initially have had after his early Tweets in support of the Saudi and Emirati move against Qatar.”

While the Qatari government has deep pockets, taking money from the country carries political risks, especially for businesses that operate in conservative circles, because of its close ties with Iran and allegations that its government funds terrorism. In addition to Saudi Arabia, Qatar currently finds itself at odds with the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Egypt, among other countries.

When presented with details about the talks, Ruddy called the information “unsubstantiated” but did not elaborate. When informed later of the impending publication of this article, he wrote, “This is all false” and declined to comment further.

Ruddy, long a player in conservative media, has seen his influence skyrocket since Trump’s election. He is among a network of friends that Trump regularly consults during after-hours phone call sessions and weekend stays at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida, of which Ruddy is a member.

Jassim Al-Thani, a spokesman for Qatar's embassy in Washington, declined to comment. Graeme Wilson, a spokesman for Qatar Investment Authority, did not immediately provide comment.

According to one person with knowledge of the talks, meetings began in January and have taken place in New York and at Mar-a-Lago.

Other talks took place during the first week of April, when the CEO of the state-owned Qatar Investment Authority, both al Thani brothers, and several members of Qatar’s cabinet were in Florida, according to the other person with knowledge of the talks.

The Qataris have eyed a $90 million investment, according to the people.

The money would be used in large part to expand the company’s television operations, according to one person with knowledge of the talks. On April 9, Newsmax announced the hiring of former Fox News executive Michael Clemente as its new CEO. Founded by Ruddy in 1998, Newsmax publishes a website that gets millions of unique visitors per month as well as a magazine. The company launched Newsmax TV in 2014, accompanied by talk of challenging Fox News. The company is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Qatar has made television investments a cornerstone of its foreign influence strategy, often to the chagrin of its neighbors. The blockade of Qatar was motivated in part by irritation with the tenor of its state-run Al-Jazeera network, which often airs news coverage critical of other Gulf state governments.

According to a person familiar with the Qataris’ thinking on the subject, they view the potential Newsmax investment primarily as a political one, with financial considerations being secondary.

Last summer, when the Gulf crisis broke out, Newsmax ran op-eds critical of Qatar with headlines including “Global Stability Can't Afford Qatar's Terror Investments” and one that called on Rex Tillerson to resign as secretary of state, citing his ties to Qatar among its justifications.

On April 13, Newsmax ran news coverage of the Qatari emir’s visit to the United States that was far more positive. It described the trip as “widely praised” and the emir’s White House meeting with Trump – which included talk of increased Qatari investment in the U.S. -- as a “boon to the American economy.”

Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.

