WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under which Washington would stop $4 billion in annual funding to Israel after the end of this year.
Trump made the surprise announcement as voters headed to the polls for midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. He cast the move as partly meant to take away a talking point he said left-wing Democrats had used against Republicans over support for military assistance to Israel.
"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 on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program. "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."
Trump did not provide details or explain how the funding would be halted at the end of the year, given that the memorandum of understanding that provides $3.8 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel each year does not expire until September 2028. Discussions have been under way on how Washington's assistance to Israel would evolve beyond that date, and Netanyahu had already said he expects U.S. aid to wind down over time.
Trump said Israel no longer needed the funding. He also said the United States would still sell weapons to Israel, its close Middle East ally, even as the two countries remain in conflict with Iran more than eight months after jointly attacking the Islamic Republic.
U.S. public support for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democrats. A Quinnipiac University poll in June found 48 percent of voters and 66 percent of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 16 percent and 20 percent, respectively, when the question was first asked in 2017.
