WASHINGTON — Israel will stop receiving about $4 billion a year from the United States once this year ends, President Donald Trump said Tuesday on Fox News, adding that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu settled on the change months ago.
Speaking on “Fox & Friends” as voters headed to the polls, Trump put it this way:
“We were giving them $4 billion – we are – but it gets cut off at the end of the year.”
He said Israel no longer needs the money. “They don’t need it,” Trump said. “Israel is a very thriving country.”
Trump said Netanyahu approached him about ending the assistance and that the two men had discussed it for some time. “You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash. What we give them — $4 billion of things and money — and they don’t need it. And I was approached by Bibi Netanyahu, and we’ve been talking about it for a couple of years because it’s a lot of money,” he said.
Pressed on whether the $4 billion was military aid or a payment, Trump said, “Any way you want to define it.” He said Israel could still buy what it wants, and he added, “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.”
Trump also cast the aid as a political problem for Republicans. “It’s a bad talking point because when you say, ‘Why don’t we give everybody $4 billion?’ Israel’s our number one; we give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it,” he said. CNN reported that he questioned why Republicans should “suffer the slings” from candidates such as Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed over the payments.
For now, Israel gets $3.8 billion a year in U.S. military aid. The money flows under a 10-year memorandum of understanding that took effect in 2018 and runs to 2028. Ending the payments at the end of this year would cut that agreement short, and neither Fox News nor Reuters reported detailed terms for how the change would be carried out.
Netanyahu has spoken openly about ending U.S. military aid to Israel, but not on so short a timeline, CNN reported. In May, the United States and Israel began formal talks on a new agreement to replace the memorandum, though it is not clear whether any framework is in place.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office on Trump’s remarks. CNN said it had reached out to Netanyahu’s office and the White House.
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