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Archive photo · 2 June 2025Trump Says U.S. Will Stop $4 Billion Annual Aid to Israel by Year-End
12 Other8 Western Mainstream2 Latin American1 West AsianPhoto: Daniel Torok / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
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Trump says US will end $4 billion annual military aid to Israel by year-end. He cites a deal with Netanyahu months ago to stop funding.
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Aid cut by year-end
President Donald Trump said the United States would stop providing Israel $4 billion a year and that the arrangement would be cut off at the end of this year, describing it as a deal he made with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu months ago. Trump told Fox News that “We give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping,” and he added that “Now we'll help Israel if they need it.”
“We've already agreed that by the end of this year we won't be paying Israel,” and the BBC said it was unclear what specific funds Trump was referring to. The BBC said a memorandum of understanding provides $3.8bn a year in military assistance to Israel and that it expires at the end of 2028, while the Guardian described Trump’s announcement as a surprise Election Day move that would accelerate Netanyahu’s previously suggested tapering timeline.
Politics and competing claims
Trump linked the decision to domestic politics, saying he did not want Republicans to face “the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed” over US support for Israel.
Trump told Fox News that “Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed when they don't need it? It's a bad talking point,” and he also said the Israeli prime minister had proactively sought the aid cut-off.
The Guardian reported that Trump claimed the abrupt ending of aid was proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu, and it quoted Trump saying, “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.”
The Guardian also quoted Gadi Eisenkot saying, “We can no longer rely on him and must replace him,” while the BBC said the Israeli Prime Minister's office had yet to comment on Trump’s remarks.
What comes next
It was unclear what form of aid Trump was discussing and that the contours of any new procurement or investment arrangement to help Israel's military remained unclear. Netanyahu told CBS in May that he wanted to “draw down” US financial support to Israel “to zero” from the annual $3.8bn the country receives, while the Guardian said Israel received most of the approximately $3.8bn in 2025 as foreign military financing grants.
Another $500m was given for joint missile defence programmes, and Trump’s announcement indicated that Israel would be able to buy US military hardware such as F-35 fighter jets. The New York Times said Trump described the Election Day declaration as a political effort to take a “bad talking point” away from the left wing of the Democratic Party, and it said the current memorandum of understanding does not expire until 2028 even as Trump seemed to suggest canceling it two years early with Israel’s consent.