US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States will end its nearly $4 billion annual military aid to Israel by the end of the year, according to DW, which reported his remarks from a Fox News interview. The statement came as American voters went to midterm polls.
Trump said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed months ago to stop the US military aid, and that Israel is "fine" with the cut, according to DW. He said Israel can still buy US weapons "whenever they want" and that the US would help Israel "if they need it."
Trump did not explain in the interview how the military assistance would end by the end of 2026, according to DW. The aid is provided under a Memorandum of Understanding set to run until September 2028. The outline sources do not describe how the aid would be phased out or whether Congress must act.
Israel’s opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot said Trump’s remarks showed Netanyahu "can no longer be trusted and must be replaced," according to DW. Those are Eisenkot’s words, not a finding of fact.
Trump said the move was partly meant to counter a "bad talking point" used by Democrats, including Abdul El-Sayed, against Republicans over aid to Israel. Netanyahu has previously said he wants to end Israel’s reliance on US military support and needs to "break free from dependency."
Public opinion has also shifted. A Quinnipiac University poll in June found 48% of all voters think the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 16% in 2017.
No statement from the White House, the Pentagon or the Israeli government confirming the terms or timeline of the aid halt was found in the available sources. The key account of Trump’s remarks rests on DW. Al Jazeera and the Japan Times were available only as headlines and short excerpts, so their full reporting was not checked. A Japan Times excerpt says Netanyahu lost his governing majority in an Oct. 27 election, but no other source confirms this.
Under Trump’s account, the aid would end by the end of 2026, while the agreement runs to September 2028. Israel’s future leadership is uncertain, and the remarks came amid speculation of a joint US-Israeli strike on Iran.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.