Trump says US will end military aid to Israel by the end of this year

In a phone interview with Fox News as voting began on Tuesday morning, Trump said the US would cut nearly $4bn in military aid to Israel because "they don't need it." "We were giving them $4bn … But it gets cut off at the end of the year," he said. Trump indicated the decision was partly influenced by criticism from candidates like Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who would become the US's first Muslim senator if elected.

Netanyahu's involvement

During the interview, Trump claimed that the abrupt ending of aid was proposed by Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. "We give them $4bn of things and money, and they don't need it," he said. "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 had previously suggested tapering off US military aid over the next decade, but Trump's announcement would significantly accelerate that timeline.

Election timing

Trump's announcement appeared timed to affect the outcome of the midterm elections, where US foreign policy and support for Israel have played an unusually important role in key races. Israel received most of the approximately $3.8bn in 2025 as Foreign Military Financing grants that allow the country to buy US military hardware including F-35 fighter jets. Another $500m was given for joint missile defence programmes.

A Quinnipiac University poll released in September showed that 48% of Americans believed that the US was too supportive of Israel, reflecting a historic shift in public opinion. Anger over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has helped usher in a wave of progressive Democratic candidates. Trump spoke warmly about Netanyahu during the interview, joking that "if people ever got tired of me in the US, I'll move to Israel and become prime minister."