Netanyahu asked Trump to stop sending Israel billions — president announces aid cutoff on Election Day

President Donald Trump made an America First announcement on Israel, bound to find support from even the most seething leftists

Especially in states like Michigan, home to the mecca of the Midwest, the United States’ relationship with Israel is as much on the ballot as anything. While radical Democrats have opposed ongoing support for the Jewish State, as voters lined up at the polls on Tuesday, it was Trump who declared annual aid would come to a close “at the end of the year.”

As Election Day coverage was underway, Trump called into Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” where he spoke with co-hosts Ainsley Earhardt, Lawrence Jones and Brian Kilmeade. Along with reiterating his message about America’s turnaround from Biden era policies as he encouraged voters to get to the polls, Trump spoke about aid to Israel: “We were giving them $4 billion — we are –, but it gets cut off at the end of the year.”

The chief executive detailed that the matter was one he had discussed for years with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the foreign leader had proposed an end to the agreement. “Israel is a very thriving country. They don’t need it. But if they did need it, I would say keep it going.”

“Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed when they (Israel) don’t need it? It’s a bad talking point,” argued Trump as he mentioned the Democratic Party’s Senate nominee in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed.

Earlier this year, Netanyahu did an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” where chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett asked, “Do you believe it’s time for the state of Israel to reexamine and possibly reset its financial relationship with the United States, meaning what the United States provides to Israel on an annual basis?”

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“Absolutely,” replied the prime minister who added, “I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have, because we receive $3.8 billion per year. And I think that it’s time we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support.”

Under then-President Barack Obama, a 2016 memorandum of understanding with Israel — the third 10-year MOU of its kind — established a cutoff of 2028 for $3.8 billion in annual aid, including $500 million each year for missile defense, totaling $38 billion in a decade.

This aid does not account for additional appropriations voted on by Congress in the wake of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel.

Kilmeade sought clarification on what aid was getting cut, to which Trump explained, no matter how you define it, “we give them $4 billion of things and money, and they don’t need it.”

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During the call, Trump also jested about his popularity in Israel and expressed, “I’m at 99% approval rating in Israel. Can you believe it? In fact, if people ever got tired of me in the U.S., I’ll move to Israel and become prime minister.”

Kevin Haggerty

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