$4 Billion: Trump announces end to annual U.S. cash aid to Israel

The United States will cease providing $4 billion in annual aid to Israel beginning in 2027, President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday.

Trump described the change as a shift from financial assistance to the sale of military hardware. He told Fox News Channel that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed the idea. The two leaders have discussed the arrangement for approximately two years.

The president characterized the new framework as a form of barter. He noted that the current system involves giving Israel goods and cash that the country no longer requires. Trump argued that the expenditure represents a substantial cost for American taxpayers.

During the phone interview on Election Day, Trump identified the aid package as a frequent topic for Democratic candidates. He specifically cited Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, as an example of a politician using the issue in campaigns.

"You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash," Trump said. "Look, 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."

Netanyahu's office did not provide an immediate statement regarding the announcement. The U.S. has transferred tens of billions of dollars in military support to Israel in recent years. An academic study released last year calculated that the U.S. provided at least $21.7 billion in military assistance after the Gaza conflict began in 2023. That study appeared on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. A separate report from Brown University's Costs of War project estimated that U.S. spending on security aid and operations in the wider Middle East increased by roughly $10 billion over the preceding two years.