President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the U.S. to stop sending $4 billion in aid annually to Israel.
\n\nIt was not immediately clear which exact funding Trump meant.
\n\nTrump said that he and Netanyahu “made a deal months ago that we’re stopping” and that the money would get “cut off at the end of the year.”
\n\nTrump said in a phone interview with “Fox & Friends” that the idea was Netanyahu’s — Netanyahu has previously floated tapering American aid over the next decade. Netanyahu’s office declined to comment Tuesday.
\n\n“We’ll help Israel if they need it — you know they’ve been a great ally,” Trump said, adding that the Israeli government was “fine with it, because, you know, they have become a very successful country” and “they don’t need” the money.
\n\nTrump was speaking while voters were heading to the polls for the midterm elections. U.S. military aid to Israel and Israel’s use of American weapons in Gaza and the West Bank have been among the most contentious issues during the campaign.
\n\nTrump appeared to acknowledge a political dimension to the decision, saying, “The left uses the $4…
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