Trump to end all military funding to Israel by end of the year: ‘They don’t need it’

President Donald Trump revealed in an interview that all military funding to Israel will be cut by the end of the year, despite claiming no bad blood with the Middle East ally.

Speaking by phone with Fox News on Wednesday, the president said the United States “won’t be paying anymore” for Israeli security because “they don’t need it.” It seems to confirm months of rumors and speculation that the White House was shutting off the taps when it came to funding the Jewish state’s defense.

“As far as paying Israel, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and I have made a deal — we give Israel $4 billion a year. We made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump said in the Tuesday phone interview. “They’re fine with it because they’ve become a very successful country.”

President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for a luncheon at his Mar-a-Lago club, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla., as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth watch. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“So, it’s just a wasted thing, since we’ve already agreed that by the end of this year, we won’t be paying Israel,” he continued. “We’ll help Israel if they need it. They’ve been a great ally, and we’ve been the greatest of all allies.”

The announcement came on Election Day in a cycle where Republicans have been battling negative headwinds, largely due to cost of living challenges brought on by the war in Iran.

The two countries are approaching the termination of a memorandum of understanding signed a decade ago by President Barack Obama.

That deal allocated $3.8 billion to the Israeli military annually, while requiring that the majority of those funds be spent on U.S.-manufactured weaponry and defense technology. That deal was already set to expire at the end of next year.

Despite the president’s insistence that Israel has been a “good ally” and the decision was made mutually, it will be hard to characterize the decision to cease the funding early as anything but a critical blow to the White House’s relationship with the Jewish state.

Israel is suffering a worldwide collapse in support due to its conflict in Gaza and a surge of settler violence that has gone largely unpunished. A recent Pew Research Center survey across 36 countries found a median of 67% of adults had a negative perception of the state, compared to only 25% who reported positive feelings.

That trend is readily observable in U.S. politics, where both Republicans and Democrats have reported plummeting support for the Middle East ally.

Threats from Israeli leadership to undertake Gaza-style operations in the West Bank have done little to assure American politicians that they should not fear additional political baggage in the future

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Currently, the U.S. gives Israel more military funding than any other country in the world. But Netanyahu has been warning fellow lawmakers and the Israeli public that U.S. defense funding could not be counted on in the long term.

He has also acknowledged a fraying of relations and a need for his country to be more self-sufficient.

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