Donald Trump accused Qatar of funding terrorism at a “high level”, just hours after his secretary of state urged Saudi Arabia and its allies to end a blockade of the gas-rich state because it was creating economic hardship and hitting counter-terrorism efforts. Speaking from the White House, Mr Trump said Qatar “has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level”. His comments came at the end of a week that saw Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt sever ties with the Gulf state over what they said were concerns that it was fuelling terrorism and supporting Shia proxies of Iran. Mr Trump said Saudi Arabia and other nations had talked to him about confronting Qatar in the wake of his recent visit to Riyadh.