Trump says US cutting Ksh.493B annual security assistance to Israel

Trump said Israel was "fine" with him ending the assistance, which began in 2019 and was signed under his predecessor, Barack Obama, three years earlier.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) posing for a picture with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC, ahead of their meeting on July 28, 2026. Photo/AFP

"We'll help Israel if they need it," he added in an interview on US current affairs show Fox and Friends, saying that he had agreed with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut the assistance.

"Israel's our number one; we give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it ... If they did need it, I would say keep it going," Trump added.

Under the deal, Israel receives financial assistance for the purchase of around $3.8 billion of weapons a year.

Source: Citizen Digital