Trump Says U.S. Will Cut $4B Israel Aid, Keep Arms Sales

President Donald Trump said Tuesday, Nov. 3, that the United States would stop providing $4 billion in annual aid to Israel while continuing to sell it weapons. The proposed cutoff puts state money and military supply under political control in Washington, even as Trump says Israel can buy its own weapons. The aid would end at the end of the year, he said, though the accounts of the timing differ.

Who Controls the Money

Congress authorized funding for Israel in a 2020 law, while the Senate and House must pass appropriations bills each year to distribute and release funds. Trump’s announcement doesn’t settle how that machinery will work. Fox News reported that he gave no details about the timing or terms of a change to the existing agreement, which provides about $3.8 billion annually through 2028.

The Associated Press reported that the United States would stop providing $4 billion in aid each year to Israel in 2027. Fox News said Trump described a cutoff at the end of 2026. The difference matters: a presidential statement is not the same as a detailed change to the agreement, and Congress remains part of the funding process.

Trump said Netanyahu had raised the idea and that they’d discussed it for a couple of years. He attributed this position to Netanyahu: “I think it would be appropriate if we do not receive aid.” Netanyahu’s office made no immediate comment. In an interview with an Israeli television channel in October, Netanyahu said, “If you think we're going to continue receiving what I secured twice, and that's tens of billions of dollars in American aid for the defense budget, prepare yourselves and get used to the fact that it won't happen because America has changed.”

Aid Cut, Arms Still for Sale

Trump’s proposal would end assistance while leaving U.S. weapons available for purchase. “They can buy whatever they want,” he said. The arrangement he described isn’t an end to military trade; it shifts the stated terms from aid to buying weapons, with the U.S. government still positioned as supplier.

“We were giving them $4 billion – we are – but it gets cut off at the end of the year,” Trump told Fox & Friends. He described the support as “things and money,” adding, “You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash.” He also said, “They don't need it,” and called Israel “a very thriving country.”

In a separate Fox News Channel phone interview, Trump said, “Look, 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.” He tied the proposal to campaign promises to curb foreign aid and cut government spending, and said he wanted to balance the budget.

The Wider Price Tag

An academic study published in 2025 said the administrations of President Joe Biden and Trump provided at least $21.7 billion in military assistance to Israel after the Gaza war began in 2023. A separate 2025 study by the Costs of War project at Brown University's Watson School of International and Public Affairs said the United States had spent roughly $10 billion more on security aid and operations in the broader Middle East during the preceding two years. Both reports relied mostly on open-source material and provided estimates of aid and direct U.S. military involvement.

Trump also said aid had become a Democratic talking point for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. “Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed when they don't need it?” he said, according to Fox News. He called Israel “our number one” recipient, adding, “We give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it.” The funding dispute is being framed by politicians as budget arithmetic and campaign combat; the weapons sales, appropriations process and billions in estimated assistance remain part of the same state-managed system.