Trump Says US Will End Military Aid to Israel at End of 2026
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States will end its military aid to Israel at the end of 2026. In a phone interview with Fox News' “Fox & Friends” programme, he said the US would cut nearly $4bn in military aid. “We were giving them $4bn … But it gets cut off at the end of the year,” he said.
The remarks came on the day voting began in the US midterm elections. Trump said Israel no longer needed the money. “They don't need it, and we won't be paying any more,” he said, calling continued aid “a wasted thing.” He also said that arms sales to Israel would replace the aid, and that Israel's needs were being met. Fox News quoted him saying that “Israel's our number one. We give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it.”
Trump also said the idea came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he said had approached him, and that the two had been discussing it for a couple of years. Trump linked the decision to criticism of the aid, saying: “Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like El-Sayed when they don't need it? It's a bad talking point.”
Netanyahu has previously spoken on the subject. In May, he said he wants to draw American financial support for Israel, the financial part of military cooperation between the two countries, down to zero. Fox News reported those comments.
The current aid is governed by a memorandum of understanding, a formal agreement between the two governments. It provides $3.8bn in annual US military aid to Israel and runs to September 2028. In 2025, Israel received most of about $3.8bn in Foreign Military Financing grants, a US programme that provides funds for military purchases, plus another $500m for joint missile defence programmes.
