Trump Says US Will End $4 Billion in Annual Aid to Israel at Year's End

President Donald Trump said Tuesday, Nov. 3, Election Day for the midterms, that the United States will stop giving Israel about $4 billion a year in aid at the end of the year, saying he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the deal months ago. In a phone interview with "Fox & Friends," Trump said Israel is "fine with it" because it has become a very successful country that does not need the money, though the U.S. would help if needed. He said Netanyahu raised the idea himself. Trump gave no details, and it was not immediately clear which funding he meant. A Netanyahu spokesman said he knew nothing about the remarks and would check. Netanyahu said in January he hoped to taper off U.S. military aid over the next decade. The current security agreement, signed under President Barack Obama, provides about $3.8 billion a year through 2028.

Fox News and the Washington Examiner lead with Trump's "they don't need it" argument. Fox's headline adds that Israel can still buy weapons, and it notes the $3.8 billion agreement and that no timing or terms have been detailed. The Examiner's headline says "all military funding" will end, calls the remarks a seeming confirmation of months of rumors, and ties the announcement to Republican headwinds from cost-of-living pressures caused by the Iran war. NBC News, on the left, also leads with Trump's claim but stresses that it came as voters headed to the polls amid a campaign in which U.S. aid and the Gaza war were contentious. NBC gives the Netanyahu spokesman's response and the uncertainty over which funding Trump meant. Vox's piece covers the Israeli election and Arab voters, noting the U.S. split over Israel, rather than Trump's remarks. Reuters and The Hill largely match the basic account, with The Hill's headline citing a "talking point."