Trump says US will halt $4 billion in aid to Israel after end of this year

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would stop $4 billion in funding to Israel after the end of this year.

Speaking to Fox News' Fox and Friends, Trump said Israel no longer needed the funding and that some Democrats and left-wing politicians ‌were using the US financial support to Israel as a talking point ⁠to criticise Republicans.

"Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, ‌and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping," Trump told Fox ⁠News' Fox and Friends.

"We've already agreed that by the end of this year we won't be paying Israel. Now we'll help Israel if they need it," he said.

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu's office on Trump's remarks.

It was not immediately clear which ‌exact funding Trump meant.

A memorandum of understanding that provides $3.8 billion annual US military aid to Israel is approaching its expiration date in 2028 and conversations have been under way on how Washington's assistance to Israel would evolve ‌beyond that date.

"They can buy whatever they want. They can buy whatever they want. So can Europe. We make the greatest weapons in the world," Trump added on Tuesday.

Netanyahu said in a May interview with CBS that he hoped to wean Israel off US military support within a decade.

In a June letter to a US congressman he wrote that the time had come for Israel "to move from aid recipient to partner".

US public support for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democrats.

A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48 percent of voters and 66 percent of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 16 percent and 20 percent when the question was first asked in 2017.

Support for Israel among Democratic voters has plummeted, candidates critical of Israel are winning Democratic primaries and even moderate lawmakers are increasingly willing to challenge decades of US support for Israel.

"The left uses the $4 billion payment that ⁠everybody knows about, well it's no secret, as a signal of unfairness, and we can't allow that to happen," Trump said.

"We ⁠were giving them $4 billion, we are, but it gets cut off at the end of the year," he said. "Why? Because they don't need it."

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)