Trump on Election Day Morning: U.S. Aid to Israel Ends at Year's End, and Israel Can Still Buy American Weapons

President Donald Trump said Tuesday morning that American aid to Israel will end when the year ends, Fox News reports.

What he said. Speaking on "Fox & Friends" on Election Day morning, Trump said the United States has been giving Israel about $4 billion and that it "gets cut off at the end of the year." He said the support covered "things and money," and described it as military aid, cash or "barter." His reason: "They don't need it. Israel is a very thriving country." He added that Israel can still buy weapons from the United States.

Whose idea. Trump said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed ending the assistance for years, and that Netanyahu raised the idea himself.

The background. Fox News reports that the current U.S.-Israel security assistance agreement provides about $3.8 billion a year through 2028, and that Netanyahu has said before that he wants Israel to phase out its reliance on American military aid. Fox says the timing and terms of any change to that agreement have not been detailed.

What it means today. This was a verbal announcement on a morning TV show, on the day Americans vote. We did not see a White House statement, a signed order or a notice to Congress in the sources we read, and Fox reports no response from the Israeli government. Fox labeled its report a breaking news update, so details may change.

What we could not check. We have not seen the interview in full. We cannot say how a cutoff would square with the 2028 agreement, whether Congress would have to act, or whether the figure Trump used, about $4 billion, includes anything beyond the roughly $3.8 billion Fox cites. Those questions were not answered in the report.