The Trump administration's conflicting messages have obscured US attempts to mend the year-long rift. While Mr Trump last summer called Qatar a “funder of terror” his secretary of state at the time, Rex Tillerson, was praising Doha’s efforts in countering terrorism.

“The US role...has been inconsistent from day one,” said Marcelle Wahba, president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and former US ambassador to the UAE.

The president, explained Ambassador Wahba, is focusing on re-energising ties with the Gulf countries with a focus on countering terrorism, while the secretaries of defence and state were attempting “to safeguard US equities in Al Udeid [airbase in Qatar] and to push for a more united Arab front vis-à-vis Iran”.

Mr Tillerson’s frayed relationship with Mr Trump — who fired Mr Tillerson in March — undermined Washington role in the crisis.

“No one in the Gulf was listening to Tillerson on this issue and all we focused on was the US president’s words and tweets,” said Ambassador Wahba.

During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017

More importantly, she added, is the regional nature of the conflict and the "competing" visions regarding the role of political Islam in the Middle East. This makes it harder for Washington to mediate, as it lies outside the scope of direct US interest.

This, explained Ambassador Wahba, has to be resolved by the regional players, while “the US can only encourage”.

“They need to find a way to coexist and, in my view, it is in Qatar’s long-term interests to re-gain the trust of its Arab neighbours by moderating its regional policies,” she said.

Lori Boghardt, a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that US leverage had taken a hit after continuously taking different sides in the dispute.

“The US has swung not only from one side to the other in terms of who it supports in the rift, but in terms of how it wants to address the rift and what it wants to see happen,” According  The National.

The US is encouraging their Gulf partners to follow a number of policies that run counter to their own security interests, explained Ms Boghardt. This complicates Washington's efforts to end the rift.

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