Tuesday 3 November 2026
Trump says the United States will stop paying Israel about 4 billion dollars a year at the end of the year, in a deal Netanyahu brought to him
President Donald Trump said on Fox and Friends on Tuesday morning that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed months ago that the United States will stop its roughly 4 billion dollars a year in funding to Israel at the end of this year. Trump said Netanyahu brought the idea up himself, that Israel is a thriving country and no longer needs the money, and that Washington will still help Israel if it ever does need it. The current aid agreement, a memorandum signed in 2016, pays Israel 3.8 billion dollars a year in military aid and does not expire until September 2028, and Trump gave no details on how the payments would be stopped early.
Trump made the announcement in an Election Day interview, in the middle of the fight over the Michigan Senate race, where the Democratic nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, has made American aid to Israel a central charge against Republicans. Trump said the aid had become the best talking point the left has, and that Netanyahu understood that himself. "He said, 'I think it would be appropriate if we do not receive aid,' because he understands that this is one of their points of contention," Trump said.
Pressed on whether the 4 billion dollars meant military aid, hardware or a check, Trump said it counts in any form. "You can consider it barter. You can consider it military aid or cash. What we give them, 4 billion of things and money, and they don't need it," he said. He added that Washington will still sell weapons to Israel, and that if Israel needed the money he would keep the aid going.
Netanyahu has been moving in this direction in public for months. Days before Israel's election last week, he told an Israeli news channel that American aid would not continue at its present level, and in January he told The Economist he hoped Israel could stop relying on American military funding entirely within a decade. Trump endorsed Netanyahu in that election and called him the kind of partner the United States demands of Israel.
What is not settled is the mechanism. The 3.8 billion dollars a year flows under a ten year memorandum of understanding that began in 2018 and runs through fiscal 2028, and military aid is appropriated by Congress. CNN reported that it asked the White House and Netanyahu's office for details and had no answer by Tuesday afternoon. The announcement is a statement of intent by two leaders who say they agreed it between themselves. Turning it into a stopped payment runs through Congress and the existing agreement, and neither government has published a document that does it.
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