Trump Says US Will End $4 Billion a Year in Aid to Israel but Keep Selling It Arms

As of 7:54 a.m. ET, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States will stop giving Israel about $4 billion a year in aid after this year, though Israel will still be able to buy American weapons. He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed the idea.

Trump made the announcement in a phone interview with Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" on Election Day morning. He gave no details on how the money would be stopped. The memorandum of understanding that provides Israel $3.8 billion a year in U.S. military aid does not expire until 2028, and Congress must approve the funds each year.

"Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping," Trump said, according to Reuters. "We've already agreed that by the end of this year we won't be paying Israel. Now we'll help Israel if they need it."

Later in the interview he said, "We were giving them $4 billion – we are – but it gets cut off at the end of the year," Fox News reported. Asked why, he said Israel no longer needs the money. "Israel is a very thriving country," he said.

What Trump said about the aid

Trump said the $4 billion covered "things and money." "You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash," he said, according to Fox News. He said Israel can keep buying U.S. weapons. "They can buy whatever they want," he said.

Trump said Netanyahu raised the idea. "I was approached by Bibi Netanyahu, and we've been talking about it for a couple of years because it's a lot of money," he said. "He brought it up. He said, 'I think it would be appropriate if we do not receive aid.'"

Trump also linked the move to U.S. politics. He said some Democrats had used aid to Israel against Republicans, and he named Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan who has opposed unconditional military aid to Israel. "Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed when they don't need it?" Trump said. "It's a bad talking point."

Questions over how it would work

The current 10-year memorandum of understanding, signed in 2016 under the Obama administration, covers fiscal years 2019 through 2028, The Jerusalem Post reported. Reuters reported that it does not expire until September 2028. Congress passed a law in 2020 authorizing the funding, but the House and Senate still must pass spending bills every year to release it, Reuters and Fox News reported.

Netanyahu has said before that he wants to end Israel's reliance on U.S. aid, but over a longer period. In a May interview with CBS, he said he wanted to "draw down" U.S. financial support "to zero," the BBC reported. "Let's start now and do it over the next decade, over the next ten years, but I want to start now," he said.

Neither the White House nor Netanyahu's office responded to Reuters' requests for comment. The BBC said it had asked the White House for clarification and that the prime minister's office had not yet commented. Israel has not publicly confirmed an agreement to end the aid this year.

Reaction

Gadi Eisenkot, who leads the bloc trying to replace Netanyahu after Israel's Oct. 27 election, criticized the way the news came out. "The fact that the security establishment, along with Israeli citizens, is learning about a change in the strategic relationship framework through the media highlights just how much Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct poses a genuine danger," he wrote on X, according to Reuters.

In Washington, Republican Rep. Don Bacon told CNN, "What I really had heartburn about is the Israelis didn't know about it," Reuters reported. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California said on X that "Zero aid Israel" would be part of his party's agenda if it wins control of Congress.

Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies questioned the timing. "Why did President Trump announce it on Election Day?" he said, according to Reuters.

Why it matters

Israel has been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid since World War II, the BBC reported. Support for that aid has long been bipartisan but has weakened, especially among Democrats, since the Gaza war began in October 2023. A Quinnipiac University poll found 48% of voters believe the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, up from 16% in 2017, Reuters and the BBC reported.

In July, a House measure from Republican Rep. Thomas Massie to cut $3.3 billion in security aid to Israel was defeated 314-104, with 103 Democrats voting for it, according to the BBC.