Trump Says US Will End $4bn Israel Funding
US Israel funding of $4 billion a year will stop at the end of 2026, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. He told Fox News that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the deal months ago, and that Israel no longer needs the money.
“We made a deal months ago that we are stopping,” Trump said on the Fox and Friends programme. “We have already agreed that by the end of this year we will not be paying Israel. Now we will help Israel if they need it.” He said some Democrats and left-wing politicians use the funding as a talking point to criticise Republicans. “The left uses the $4bn payment that everybody knows about as a signal of unfairness, and we cannot allow that to happen,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office on Trump’s remarks. That silence matters, because the claim rests so far on Trump’s account alone. No joint statement, document, or Israeli confirmation accompanied the interview.
US Israel funding: what is clear and what is not
It was not immediately clear which exact funding Trump meant, Dawn noted in its report. A memorandum of understanding that provides $3.8 billion in annual US military aid to Israel approaches its expiry date in 2028, and talks have been under way on how assistance would evolve beyond that date. Trump’s $4 billion figure sits close to that $3.8 billion annual sum, but he did not name the memorandum, and he spoke of a cut-off at the end of this year, two years before the memorandum expires.
Trump added that Israel can buy what it wants, as Europe can. “They can buy whatever they want. So can Europe. We make the greatest weapons in the world,” he said. That line suggests a shift from aid to arms sales, rather than a break in the defence relationship. Netanyahu himself has moved in that direction in public. In a May interview with CBS, he said he hoped to wean Israel off US military support within a decade. In a June letter to a US congressman, he wrote that the time had come for Israel “to move from aid recipient to partner”.
The politics behind the claim are also plain. US public support for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began in 2023, above all among Democrats. A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48 per cent of voters, and 66 per cent of Democrats, believe the United States is too supportive of Israel. Those figures stood at 16 per cent and 20 per cent when the question was first asked in 2017. Candidates critical of Israel are winning Democratic primaries, and even moderate lawmakers now challenge decades of US support more openly.
Why the timing matters on midterm day
Trump spoke on the day Americans voted in midterm elections that could curb his power, as Feature Pakistan reported in its live post on US midterms voting. A claim that ends a familiar $4 billion payment speaks direct to voters who see the sum as unfair, and it lets Trump present the move as a deal already done, not a concession forced by an election result.
The wider region adds a second layer. Washington has signalled progress in talks with Iran aimed at averting a fresh flare-up, covered in the live post on US signals progress in Iran talks. Any change in US military aid to Israel lands in that tense setting, where allies and rivals alike will read it for signs of a shifting American posture.
For now, the honest summary is narrow. Trump says a deal to stop $4 billion a year in funding by the end of 2026 was made months ago. Israel has not confirmed it, the exact funding stream is unnamed, and the standing $3.8 billion memorandum runs to 2028. Until either government publishes terms, the claim should be read as Trump’s stated position, not as a confirmed change in US aid law.
The announcement comes after Trump’s final midterm pitch at the Reflecting Pool, and as the US planned to deport Afghans via Pakistan.
Frequently asked questions
What did Trump say about Israel funding?
Trump said he and Benjamin Netanyahu made a deal months ago that the United States will stop $4 billion a year in funding to Israel by the end of 2026.
Has Israel confirmed the deal?
No. There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office on Trump’s remarks.
Which funding did Trump mean?
It is not immediately clear. A memorandum of understanding provides $3.8 billion in annual US military aid to Israel and expires in 2028, close to but distinct from Trump’s $4 billion figure.
Has Netanyahu spoken about ending US aid?
Yes. In May, he said he hoped to wean Israel off US military support within a decade, and in June he wrote that Israel should move from aid recipient to partner.
Why does US support for Israel matter in the midterms?
A June Quinnipiac poll found 48 per cent of voters, and 66 per cent of Democrats, believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up sharply since 2017.
