Trump says US is cutting off aid to Israel at year’s end because ‘they don’t need it’

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States is cutting off $4 billion in aid to Israel at the end of the year because “they don’t need it.”

Trump, speaking to Fox News on the morning of Election Day, suggested that US aid to Israel has become a powerful political talking point for Democrats and questioned why Republicans should “suffer the slings” from candidates like Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed when Israel isn’t in need of assistance.

“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.

The US provides Israel $3.8 billion of military aid a year under a 10-year memorandum of understanding that began in 2018. It is set to expire in 2028. Trump appears to be suggesting he would terminate it at the end of this year.

Trump said that if Israel needed the money, he would keep the aid going, but added that he “reached an agreement” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The last reported call between the two leaders was on Saturday. It’s unclear if they have spoken since then. CNN has reached out to Netanyahu’s office and the White House.

Netanyahu has spoken openly about the need to end US military aid to Israel, but never on such a short time line. In May, the US and Israel began formal talks on a new agreement to replace the memorandum of understanding, though it’s not clear if there is any framework in place.

Just days before last week’s election, Netanyahu told an Israeli news channel that the end of US aid was coming. “If you think we’re going to continue receiving what I secured twice, tens of billions of dollars in American aid for the defense budget, get used to the fact that we won’t,” he said.

In March 2025, the Trump administration also authorized a $4 billion military aid package to Israel after the collapse of the second Gaza ceasefire.

Pressed on Fox whether he was cutting of $4 billion in military aid or $4 billion as a check, he said, “Any way you want to define it.”

“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,” Trump said.

He said Israel “can buy whatever they want.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周二表示，美国将在年底停止向以色列提供 40 亿美元的援助，因为“他们不需要这笔钱”。

特朗普在选举日当天上午接受福克斯新闻采访时表示，美国对以色列的援助已成为民主党人强有力的政治谈资，并质疑为什么在以色列不需要援助的情况下，共和党人却要“遭受”像密歇根州民主党参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德这样的候选人的“攻击”。

“这是一个糟糕的论点，因为当你问‘为什么我们不给每个人40亿美元？’时，以色列是我们最重要的国家；我们给他们的比给其他任何国家都多，而他们现在已经不需要这些钱了，”他说。

根据2018年开始生效的为期10年的谅解备忘录，美国每年向以色列提供38亿美元的军事援助。该备忘录将于2028年到期。特朗普似乎暗示他将在今年年底终止该备忘录。

特朗普表示，如果以色列需要这笔钱，他会继续提供援助，但他补充说，他已经与以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡“达成了一项协议”。

据报道，两位领导人最后一次通话是在周六。目前尚不清楚他们此后是否联系过。CNN已联系内塔尼亚胡办公室和白宫。

内塔尼亚胡曾公开表示需要停止美国对以色列的军事援助，但从未提出过如此紧迫的时间表。今年5月，美国和以色列就一项取代现有谅解备忘录的新协议展开正式谈判，但目前尚不清楚双方是否已达成任何框架协议。

就在上周大选前几天，内塔尼亚胡告诉一家以色列新闻频道，美国援助即将结束。“如果你认为我们会继续收到我两次争取到的数百亿美元的美国国防预算援助，那就做好心理准备吧，我们不会再收到这笔援助了。”他说。

2025年3月，在第二次加沙停火协议破裂后，特朗普政府还批准了一项向以色列提供40亿美元军事援助的计划。

当被福克斯追问他削减的是 40 亿美元的军事援助还是 40 亿美元的支票时，他说：“你想怎么定义都行。”

“你可以把它看作是物物交换，也可以看作是军事援助或现金。我们给了他们价值40亿美元的物资和现金，但他们并不需要。而且，内塔尼亚胡也联系过我，我们已经就此事谈了好几年了，因为这是一大笔钱，”特朗普说道。

他说以色列“可以买到他们想要的任何东西”。

这是一则正在更新的新闻。