Reported by:
Cherry Meigh Timbol
News Content Editor
Published November 4, 2026
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States and Israel have agreed to end direct U.S. financial support to Israel by the end of 2026. He made the remarks in a phone interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on the day of the U.S. midterm elections.
Trump said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a deal “months ago” to stop the roughly $4 billion the U.S. gives Israel each year. “We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel,” he said.
What Trump said
Trump said Israel is fine with the arrangement because it has become a very successful country. He said Netanyahu raised the idea after the two discussed the issue for a couple of years. He added that the U.S. would still help Israel if needed, called it a great ally, and said Israel could continue buying American military equipment.
Trump also appeared to acknowledge that aid to Israel is no longer a source of bipartisan consensus and has become a political liability for him among some voters. He said some Democrats and left-wing politicians were using U.S. support for Israel to criticize Republicans.
Existing aid framework
The U.S. currently provides Israel $3.8 billion a year in military aid under a 10-year memorandum of understanding (MOU). That agreement does not expire until September 2028. Trump gave no details on how the funding would be halted at the end of this year. The BBC reported it was unclear which specific funds Trump was referring to, and Al Jazeera reported that he likely cannot cut aid unilaterally by the end of 2026.
Background
In January, Netanyahu told The Economist that Israel wants to taper off U.S. military aid within the next 10 years. Jewish Insider reported that Trump was bewildered when Netanyahu proposed winding down the aid, according to two sources, and did not immediately support the move. One source said Trump saw the aid relationship as a way to restore American manufacturing, since the funds are generally spent on U.S. defense products.
Negotiations on a successor MOU are under way. Axios reported in November 2025 that Israel was seeking a 20-year agreement, and that passing a new deal would be complicated by opposition to foreign aid within Trump’s base and by bipartisan concerns over Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
Reaction
The Times of Israel reported that the comments reportedly caught Israeli security and financial officials off guard. At the time of publication, neither the White House nor the Israeli government had issued a formal statement detailing how or when the aid would end. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
