Pro-Trump Network Newsmax Secured a Ton of Cash From Qatar—For a Price
A previously undisclosed $50 million investment helped launch Newsmax into a Fox News competitor, a new report shows, and it came from an unexpected place: the Qatari government.In 2019 and 2020, a former Qatari government official and member of the royal family, Sheikh Sultan bin Jassim Al Thani, invested tens of millions into the fledgling far-right media company, according to documents leaked by a Cayman Islands–based financial services provider and reviewed by The Washington Post.At the time, Newsmax was massively scaling its operations, transforming itself from a network that paid hosts to drink and advertise scotch on weekday afternoons to one that would end up embroiled in defamation lawsuits after denying the 2020 presidential election results. But it desperately needed an influx of cash before it could compete with Rupert Murdoch’s broadcast empire.Halfway across the world, Qatar was struggling with an economic blockade created by a coalition of its regional neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar had turned to former President Donald Trump for help with the situation, but was cast aside on criticisms that it had funded terrorism.Before and after Al Thani decided to shell out a lump sum to a network that would grow to hold Trump’s attention, senior newsroom leaders told Newsmax staff to go easy on its coverage of Qatar, an order that resulted in at least one host being verbally reprimanded by Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy after making on-air remarks about the nation. “We were not allowed to criticize Qatar,” one unidentified source told the Post. “We were told very clearly from the top down, no touching this.” A Newsmax representative who spoke with the Post rejected the notion that they had “slanted coverage to be favorable to Qatar.”
A previously undisclosed $50 million investment helped launch Newsmax into a Fox News competitor, a new report shows, and it came from an unexpected place: the Qatari government.
In 2019 and 2020, a former Qatari government official and member of the royal family, Sheikh Sultan bin Jassim Al Thani, invested tens of millions into the fledgling far-right media company, according to documents leaked by a Cayman Islands–based financial services provider and reviewed by The Washington Post.
At the time, Newsmax was massively scaling its operations, transforming itself from a network that paid hosts to drink and advertise scotch on weekday afternoons to one that would end up embroiled in defamation lawsuits after denying the 2020 presidential election results. But it desperately needed an influx of cash before it could compete with Rupert Murdoch’s broadcast empire.
Halfway across the world, Qatar was struggling with an economic blockade created by a coalition of its regional neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar had turned to former President Donald Trump for help with the situation, but was cast aside on criticisms that it had funded terrorism.
Before and after Al Thani decided to shell out a lump sum to a network that would grow to hold Trump’s attention, senior newsroom leaders told Newsmax staff to go easy on its coverage of Qatar, an order that resulted in at least one host being verbally reprimanded by Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy after making on-air remarks about the nation. “We were not allowed to criticize Qatar,” one unidentified source told the Post. “We were told very clearly from the top down, no touching this.”
A Newsmax representative who spoke with the Post rejected the notion that they had “slanted coverage to be favorable to Qatar.”
