TRUMP SAYS US WILL END $4BN ANNUAL AID TO ISRAEL

President Donald Trump has said the United States will stop its $4 billion in annual funding to Israel at the end of this year. "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," he told Fox News's "Fox and Friends" programme. Trump said Israel no longer needs the funding, but that Washington would still "help Israel if they need it". Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to the remarks, and Trump did not specify which exact funding he meant.

A memorandum of understanding provides $3.8 billion in annual US military aid to Israel and is due to expire in 2028, with talks under way on how that support might continue beyond then. Trump said Democrats and left-wing politicians have used the $4 billion payment as "a signal of unfairness" to criticise Republicans. Netanyahu told CBS in May 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".

Trump said Israel and European countries would still be able to buy American weapons once the direct funding ends, adding "we make the greatest weapons in the world". US public support for Israel has fallen since the war in Gaza began in 2023, a decline that has been most marked among Democrats. Trump said Washington would continue to assist Israel if required after the annual payment ends. He gave no further timeline beyond saying the funding would stop "by the end of the year".