Trump Says He and Netanyahu Agreed to End Annual U.S. Aid to Israel by Year’s End

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to end annual American assistance to Israel by the end of 2026. In a television interview, Trump described the arrangement as an agreement reached months earlier, rather than a decision negotiated on Tuesday. He put the annual assistance at approximately $4 billion. Trump said Israel had accepted the change and portrayed it as a successful country that no longer needed the annual funding. At the same time, he emphasized that American help would remain available if Israel needed it. “We’ll help Israel if they need it,” Trump said. He also described Israel and the United States as great allies. The existing aid framework has a different, more precise baseline. A U.S. State Department fact sheet published in 2022 describes the ten-year, $38 billion memorandum of understanding signed in 2016. Under that framework, annual support consists of $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million for cooperative missile-defense programs, totaling $3.8 billion. Those documented components provide the background to Trump’s rounded annual figure. The same fact sheet describes security cooperation extending beyond annual assistance, including joint exercises, research and weapons development. Trump’s stated timetable would bring the annual funding to an end by this year’s close, while his accompanying assurance envisages continued American help when needed.