Trump Says US Will End $4 Billion Annual Aid to Israel by End of 2026

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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States will stop providing roughly $4 billion in annual aid to Israel at the end of 2026, saying he reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu months ago.

Speaking on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” Trump said the payments would be “cut off at the end of the year.” He described Israel as “a very thriving country” that no longer needs the assistance and said the US would continue to help only if Israel requested it.

“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, and they’re fine with it,” Trump said.

What remains unclear

It was not immediately clear whether the president meant the full $3.8 billion annual military-aid package, missile-defense funding, or another category of assistance. The existing 10-year US-Israel memorandum of understanding, which began in 2018, provides $3.8 billion a year and is scheduled to run through 2028.

Trump did not explain how the agreement would be implemented before the memorandum expires, or whether Congress would need to approve any change. The announcement came as Americans voted in the midterm elections.

Shift toward arms sales

Trump said the United States would continue selling weapons to Israel even after the aid ends. “They don’t need it,” he said, adding that Israel had become successful enough to buy its own military equipment.

The move would mark a major shift in one of Washington’s longest-standing security relationships. Israel has received more than $300 billion in inflation-adjusted US assistance since 1948, according to figures cited by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Political context

Aid to Israel has become increasingly contentious in US politics. In July, the House rejected an amendment by Representative Thomas Massie to end the assistance, though nearly half of House Democrats supported it.

Trump’s announcement also lands amid political pressure on Netanyahu at home and continuing uncertainty over US policy toward Iran. Neither the White House nor the Israeli government had released detailed terms of the reported agreement by Tuesday evening.