President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he reached an agreement to halt yearly assistance to Israel, adding that the country can purchase its own weapons.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. will halt its $4 billion in annual aid to Israel, arguing that the country no longer needs the assistance and can purchase its own weapons. Trump made the remarks during a Tuesday morning phone interview on ‘Fox & Friends’ on Election Day.
According to PBS NewsHour, Trump stated that the U.S. will stop providing the $4 billion in annual aid in 2027 while continuing to sell arms to Israel. However, NBC News reported that Trump said the assistance would get cut off at the end of the year under a deal he reached months ago with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Reporting from Fox News noted that Trump described the assistance as covering cash, barter and military equipment, adding that Israel would still be allowed to purchase American weapons.
Proposed terms and Israeli response
Trump said Netanyahu originally approached him about phasing out the funding and that both leaders had discussed the topic for several years. He argued that Israel has become a thriving, successful country that doesn’t need American financial assistance. “You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash,” Trump said during the interview. He added that providing the funding has become an unnecessary expense for the U.S. and called the ongoing payments a wasted cost.
The Israeli government gave conflicting initial responses to the announcement. PBS NewsHour reported that Netanyahu’s office offered no immediate comment on Trump’s statements. A spokesman for Netanyahu told NBC News that he didn’t know anything about Trump’s comments but would check for details. Netanyahu has previously stated that he wants to phase out Israel’s reliance on American military aid, though the timing and specific terms of any change haven’t been detailed.
Existing agreements and past assistance
The proposed cutoff contrasts with the current security agreement between Washington and Israel. A memorandum of understanding currently provides Israel roughly $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military assistance through 2028. Conversations have been underway regarding how American assistance to Israel will evolve after that agreement reaches its expiration date.
The U.S. has provided tens of billions of dollars in military assistance to Israel in recent years. An academic study published last year showed that the U.S. provided at least $21.7 billion in military assistance to Israel following the start of the Gaza war in 2023, spanning the administrations of President Joe Biden and Trump. That study was published on the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel that started the conflict. A separate study published last year by the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson School of International and Public Affairs found that the U.S. spent roughly $10 billion more on security aid and military operations across the broader Middle East over the previous two years. Both studies relied primarily on open-source material.
Campaign debate and market reaction
American assistance to Israel and the war in Gaza have been among the most contentious issues leading up to the midterm elections. Trump told Fox News that U.S. aid to Israel has become a Democratic talking point, pointing to candidates such as Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Financial markets shifted quickly following Trump’s comments on Tuesday. Brent crude oil fell by more than 3% to settle around $101 per barrel, marking its lowest price in more than three weeks. Investors and traders treated the remarks as potential evidence that the war involving Iran could conclude without broader escalation. That downturn followed oil’s largest single-day drop in three months on Monday, which occurred after Trump told NBC News that he wasn’t planning to attack Iran after the midterm elections.
