“They don’t need it”: Trump announces end of US aid to Israel

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

Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Election Day morning, Trump suggested the aid has become a powerful Democratic talking point and questioned why Republicans should “suffer the slings” from candidates like Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

CNN reports that the US gives Israel $3.8 billion in military aid a year under a 10-year memorandum of understanding that began in 2018 and expires in 2028. Trump appears to be suggesting he would end it this year.

“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.

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

Netanyahu has spoken openly about ending US military aid, but never on such a short timeline.