There is much that occurs in Washington these days that makes me scratch my head, but the diplomatic issue that recently erupted in the Middle East is one of the more baffling.

You'll remember on his recent visit to Qatar, President Trump pointed the finger at Qatar as a funder of terrorism.

It was a bit of a bolter.

First of all, his comments forced a split between Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- both traditional allies of the U.S.

It prompted the Saudis to impose an embargo. It recalled citizens, it had immediate implications for air travel because a number of countries banned Qatar airways from using their airspace, and so it went on. Madness. All triggered by Donald Trump's comments about the funding of terrorism.

He said "the nation of Qatar has unfortunately been a funder of terrorism...." and it went from there. 

Quite why the president would say that when Qatar is home to the largest U.S airbase in the Middle East, and it's also the command headquarters for U.S military operations in the region - so, think Iraq and Syria - is baffling.

But what is even more baffling, is that overnight the U.S signed a $12 billion deal to supply Qatar with dozens of F-15 fighter jets. Go figure. Two weeks ago President Trump triggered this diplomatic crisis by saying Qatar was a state sponsor of terrorism, and then supplies them with $12 billion worth of military weaponry.

I don't get it.

Trump's ignorance on diplomacy and foreign policy appears to be growing, not appeasing now that he's president.

It is the Saudis who have long-funded terrorism. Al-Qaeda is funded by the Saudis. ISIS is an offshoot of that and unchecked, has spiraled into the monster that it is today. Osama Bin Laden was Saudi Arabian.

It was on a visit to Saudi Arabia that Trump singled out Qatar. He clearly believed he'd cracked the nut of terrorism. He said - and I quote - this might be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism".

If his comments would be amusing, if they didn't have such huge diplomatic implications, and I wonder who is advising him.

Take 9/11. 19 men were involved in the hijacking of those four planes. 15 of the 19 men were Saudi Arabian.

Are you, like me, scratching your head?

And now overnight the pentagon has signed an arms deal with Qatar worth $12 billion. The country that Trump says is funding terrorism.

Like I said, it would be funny if it wasn't having such huge implications.

Qatar isn't a rogue state, but Trump is increasingly looking like a dangerously ill-informed, rogue President.