Trump says US will end $4 billion in annual funding to Israel this year

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington would stop providing $4 billion in annual funding to Israel at the end of this year under an agreement he had reached with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking on Fox News’ Fox and Friends, Trump said Israel no longer needed the money and could instead purchase American military equipment. He added that the United States would remain willing to help Israel if necessary.

“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,” he said.

Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment on the remarks. It was also unclear precisely which funding Trump intended to end or how the proposed cutoff would affect existing US commitments.

A memorandum of understanding provides for $3.8 billion in annual American military assistance to Israel through 2028. Discussions have been under way over the future of that support beyond the agreement’s expiry.

Trump said he and Netanyahu had settled the matter months earlier. Defending the proposed change, he argued that Israel could buy the weapons it required from the United States, as European countries do.

“They can buy whatever they want,” he said, describing American weapons as the best in the world.

Netanyahu has previously signalled an intention to reduce Israel’s dependence on US military assistance. In a May interview with CBS, he said he hoped to end that reliance within a decade. Writing to a US congressman in June, he called for Israel to move from being an aid recipient to a partner.

Trump also linked his decision to domestic political criticism of American support for Israel. He said Democrats and left-wing politicians had used the annual funding to attack Republicans and portray Washington’s policy as unfair.

The announcement comes against a backdrop of declining US public support for Israel since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democratic voters.

A June Quinnipiac University poll found that 48 per cent of voters believed the United States was too supportive of Israel, including 66 per cent of Democrats. Those figures stood at 16 per cent and 20 per cent respectively when the question was first asked in 2017.

The shift has also become increasingly visible in Democratic politics, with candidates critical of Israel winning primaries and moderate lawmakers showing greater willingness to question longstanding US support.

Trump reiterated that the funding would end this year, maintaining that Israel no longer required it. His remarks, however, left unresolved how the proposed change would be implemented alongside the military assistance agreement running through 2028.

With agency inputs