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Trump Cuts Israel's $4 Billion Tab on Election Day — And Netanyahu Asked Him to Do It

For years, Democrats have used one figure to argue that Washington cares more about a foreign country than about Americans: the roughly $4 billion a year the U.S. sends Israel in military aid.

Yesterday morning, while voters were lining up, President Trump called into Fox News and said that money is ending.

He said he wasn't the one who brought it up. "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," Trump said. "He brought it up." According to Trump, Netanyahu told him, "I think it would be appropriate if we do not receive aid."

Countries don't usually ask to give up American money, but by Trump's account, Israel's prime minister did.

The aid comes from a 10-year agreement the Obama administration signed in 2016. It sends Israel about $3.8 billion a year in military grants and missile-defense money through September 2028. Trump says the payments stop sooner. Under the new arrangement, Israel would buy American weapons the way other allies do, paying for what it wants.

Asked whether he was talking about military aid or cash, Trump said: "You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash. Look, we give them $4 billion of things and money, and they don't need it."

"If they did need it, I would say keep it going," he added. "But we reached an agreement on that."

Trump also explained why it mattered politically, and he named names. Democrats have spent this campaign using aid to Israel as a wedge issue, especially in Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed ran for the Senate against Republican Mike Rogers. El-Sayed campaigned against U.S. military funding for Israel. On campuses, the same money became "funding genocide" on protest signs.

"Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed when they don't need it?" Trump said. He called the aid "a bad talking point." As long as the checks kept going out, critics could ask why Israel got $4 billion when other countries didn't. Once the checks stop, that question goes away.

Congress still has a say. It approves the money every year, and the 2016 agreement runs through 2028, so ending the aid early will take votes. That puts Democrats on the spot. They've spent years attacking aid to Israel, and now a Republican president is offering to end it. They'll have to decide whether to vote for what they've been demanding.

Netanyahu hasn't commented publicly. He has said before that he wants Israel off American aid gradually, so the timeline may still shift. But the alliance stays. "We'll help Israel if they need it," Trump said, calling Israel "a great ally — much more reliable than most."

It's the same approach Trump has taken with other allies. He told NATO countries to pay for their own defense, and they raised their spending. Now Israel, by Trump's account at its own request, is getting off the American payroll.

Israel keeps the alliance and keeps buying American weapons. American taxpayers stop paying the $4 billion a year, and Democrats lose the talking point they spent the campaign on.

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