Trump Announces Termination of $4 Billion Annual U.S. Military Aid to Israel After Current Year

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump has made a series of high-profile media appearances this week, announcing that the United States will cease approximately $4 billion in annual direct military assistance to Israel once the current fiscal year ends, while also offering a cautious assessment of the U.S.-Iran standoff. The remarks, delivered in a six-minute phone interview with the UK Financial Times and a separate sit-down on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” underscore a dual foreign-policy pivot: a drawdown in U.S.-Israel defense spending and a tempered stance on Iran, though Trump left open the possibility of force if circumstances dictate.

In the Financial Times interview, Trump stated that the United States currently has no immediate plans to attack Iran, adding that the present situation suited him. He suggested he was satisfied with the current U.S.-Iran confrontation, while also indicating he was prepared to take military action if necessary. “If necessary, we are locked and loaded, but probably no reason to do so,” Trump told the publication. He further revealed that the U.S. and Iran are engaged in indirect talks regarding the future of Iran’s roughly 1,000-pound stockpile of enriched uranium. “Even if these ‘nuclear dust’ are buried under hundreds of tons of rock, I’d say I don’t like seeing them stay there,” Trump said, noting that the issue was part of those discussions. He reiterated that the United States is not genuinely at war with Iran.

Trump also linked the Iran calculus to the November midterm elections. He again claimed that energy prices would “drop significantly” after the vote, and warned that if Republican performance at the polls were poor, his stance toward Iran could shift abruptly, as it has in the past. The Financial Times reported that Trump’s tone in the interview was relatively moderate, with attention seemingly shifted from the prospect of war to the electoral battlefield. “If the election results are bad, I think you’ll see a very different attitude,” he said.

On the subject of aid to Israel, Trump told Fox & Friends that he and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had agreed to end the roughly $4 billion annual U.S. military aid package, arguing that Israel had become “a very prosperous country” no longer dependent on such funding. “If Israel needs help, we will provide it, but we’re not going to pay that kind of money anymore,” Trump emphasized, adding that the cutoff would take effect after this year. The Congressional Research Service estimates that, as of last May, the United States had provided approximately $174 billion in military aid and related funding to Israel, a figure that contextualizes the annual sum Trump seeks to end.

The announcement was swiftly met with criticism from within Israel. Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief and one of the leading candidates for the position of prime minister, told reporters that both the Israeli defense establishment and the general public had only learned of the strategic shift through media reports. “It is dangerous when strategic changes are announced via television,” Eisenkot said, adding that Netanyahu was “no longer trustworthy” and must be replaced. His comments reflect a broader unease in Israel about the reliability of U.S. security commitments ahead of what many analysts describe as a volatile regional period.

Meanwhile, Iranian parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator Kalibaf said the recent U.S. midterm results represented the American people saying “no to war.” Iran, he said, supported that position. The remark comes as Trump’s administration appears to be recalibrating its Middle East footprint, even as it maintains a military “ready” posture should Iran’s actions warrant it.

Across the interviews, a recurring theme was the interplay between domestic politics and foreign-policy moves. Trump’s assertion that post-midterm energy prices would fall, his repeated claims that the U.S. is not at war with Iran, and his conditional willingness to use military force all seem calibrated to an electorate focused on pocketbook issues and stability. Whether the announced aid cutoff to Israel survives beyond the current fiscal year, and how Tehran responds to a potentially diminished U.S. security umbrella, remains to be seen.

Source: 联合报<br/>