Trump claims US will halt all military aid to Israel, $4 billion annually, by end of 2026

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

US President Donald Trump stands on stage after speaking at a campaign rally at the Salina Regional Airport, in Salina Kansas, November 1, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
US President Donald Trump stands on stage after speaking at a campaign rally at the Salina Regional Airport, in Salina Kansas, November 1, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

US President Donald Trump claims that the US will cease providing military aid to Israel after the end of this year.

“As far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal — we give Israel $4 billion a year — we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump tells Fox News in a phone interview.

“They’re fine with it because they’ve become a very successful country. They don’t need it. And we won’t be paying anymore Israel,” he continues.

“So it’s just a wasted thing, since we’ve already agreed that by the end of this year, we won’t be paying Israel,” Trump says. “We’ll help Israel if they need it. They’ve been a great ally, and we’ve been the greatest of all allies.”

The US spends more on military aid to Israel than to any other country, but the MOU requires the majority of those funds to be spent on weapons manufactured in the US.

Trump’s declaration appears to almost certainly be false, given that the 10-year memorandum of understanding on US military assistance to Israel provides Israel $3.8 billion annually through September 2028.

While Netanyahu has spoken publicly and repeatedly about ending US military assistance to Israel, he has talked about doing so gradually over the next decade — not all at once as Trump is now claiming.

The president tries to qualify the announcement by stressing that Israel has been a good ally and even backs the policy, but his decision to issue it on the morning of the Congressional midterm elections highlights how unpopular aid to Israel has become among both parties in the US.

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