Trump Says Washington Will Halt $4 Billion a Year for Israel in 2027
Key Facts
U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would stop providing $4 billion a year in aid to Israel in 2027 while continuing to sell it weapons, according to an Associated Press report. The statement puts the future of military funding within a broader debate over the shape of the security relationship between the two countries, but does not specify how the funding would be halted or which types of aid it covers. The report quoted Trump as saying Washington gives Israel "$4 billion in things and money, and they don't need it." He added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had raised the idea of ending the aid and that they had discussed it a few years ago. The statement alone does not make clear how the idea would translate into a policy change or affect existing arms sales.
Trump also linked his position to the U.S. political debate, saying aid had become an issue Democratic candidates use in their campaigns. He singled out Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, as one of those raising the issue. Trump said Israel does not need the support, presenting that as a reason to halt it, alongside what he described as Democrats' use of the funding in campaign rhetoric. David Schenker, a former Middle East official in Trump's first administration, said the announcement was unlikely to change voters' views in either party. "It won't change Republican voters, and it certainly won't change Democratic voters," he added.
Trump's remarks drew criticism from Israeli officials opposed to Netanyahu. Gadi Eisenkot accused the prime minister of endangering Israel, saying the defense establishment and the public learned through the media that the strategic relationship was shifting. Eisenkot said what happened "shows how dangerous Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct is." Opposition leader Yair Golan said halting the aid would be "a major blow to Israel's security" as the country fights wars on multiple fronts. The remarks highlight the domestic security dimension of the dispute, alongside the U.S. debate over funding.
The funding amount in Trump's statement and the Associated Press report differs from the details of the current U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding. The security agreement signed by former President Barack Obama in 2016 runs for ten years and is worth a total of $38 billion, or $3.8 billion a year. The memorandum of understanding for fiscal years 2019–2028 sets annual funding of $3.3 billion for foreign military financing, plus $500 million for cooperative missile defense programs, according to the U.S. State Department. Foreign military financing allows Israel to buy U.S. weapons, linking aid flows to purchases from U.S. defense companies. The agreement also called for phasing out Israel's ability to spend part of the funding on Israeli-made military products.
The statement comes amid an earlier Israeli debate over reducing reliance on U.S. funding. Netanyahu said in January that he wanted to gradually reduce U.S. military aid over the following ten years, describing the change as being in preparation, according to the Associated Press. U.S. military aid has amounted to $3.8 billion a year since 2017 and has approached one-fifth of Israel's annual defense spending, according to a report published by The Atlantic in February 2026. The administrations of Joe Biden and Trump have provided at least $21.7 billion in military aid to Israel since the Gaza war began in 2023, according to an academic study published in 2025. The current memorandum of understanding expires in 2028, while negotiations on the next agreement have only just begun, according to an Israeli official cited in The Atlantic report.
Halting funding would not necessarily mean arms deliveries stop quickly, as earlier purchases remain in progress for years. Most deals take years to move from sale to production and delivery, according to the Associated Press, while Trump said arms sales would continue. U.S. defense companies could be affected if Israel later spends less on U.S. equipment, since a significant part of current support flows through foreign military financing earmarked for that purpose. Congress will have a major role in determining what happens, including through the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill includes a provision to expand U.S.-Israeli cooperation on developing new defense technologies, but had not been passed when the agency report was published.