President Donald Trump announced Tuesday morning that the United States plans to end its roughly $4 billion in annual aid to Israel by the end of the year, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself asked him to do so.
Speaking with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, Trump insisted the Jewish state is rich and successful and doesn’t need the aid.
“Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal. We give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump said, adding, “They’re fine with it ’cause, you know, they’ve become a very successful country. … It’s just a wasted thing. … Now, we’ll help Israel if they need it. You know, they’ve been a great ally.”
President Trump: Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal. We give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping, and at, at their… They’re fine with it ’cause, you know, they’ve become a very successful country.
They don’t need it, and we won’t be paying Israel anymore. So it’s just a wasted thing because 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. You know, they’ve been a great ally, and we’ve been the greatest of all allies to many, many countries.”
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) November 3, 2026
In May, Netanyahu explained to “60 Minutes” that he wanted the United States to end its funding for Israel.
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“I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have. Because we receive $3.8 billion a year. And I think that it’s time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support,” he said, adding, “I don’t want to wait for the next Congress. I want to start now.”
As analysts Jacob Siegel and Liel Leibovitz laid out in a July 2023 article in Tablet magazine, U.S. military aid is not an act of charity. Virtually the entire package consists of earmarked Pentagon credits that must be spent directly with American defense giants like Lockheed Martin. In practice, the arrangement functions as funding to domestic arms manufacturers, simultaneously granting significant leverage to the United States in Israeli military policy.
By requiring aid recipients to spend every dollar inside the 50 states rather than locally, the funding structure actively undercuts Israel’s own homegrown weapons makers, which diminishes jobs in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed concern that lack of independence in defense supply could leave the state of Israel at the mercy of partisan politics, particularly given the rise of anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment in American politics.
