'They don’t need it': Trump announces he's ending $3.8 billion in aid to Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump.

President Trump said Tuesday that he's halting U.S. aid to Israel at the end of the year, bringing an early end to a 10-year deal signed in 2016 that has allowed the U.S. to provide $3.8 billion annually to Israel.

Trump made the announcement on Fox & Friends during a call-in appearance on the morning show. “We give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it," Trump said. "We’ve been doing it for years. I’ve been doing it, but Israel is a very thriving country. They don’t need it. If they did need it, I would say: keep it going.”

Trump went on to say that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broached the idea of ending the annual U.S. aid package. "To be honest with you, he brought it up. He said, ‘I think it would be appropriate if we do not receive aid,’ because he understands that this is one of their points of contention," the president told Fox & Friends. 

Back in May, during an interview with 60 Minutes, Netanyahu said he wanted U.S. aid to Israel to be "drawn down to zero" within the next decade. "And I've said this to President Trump. I've said it in -- to our own people. Their jaws drop. I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have," Netanyahu said at the time. 

“You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash,” Trump added during the interview when asked for more details. “Look, we give them $4 billion of things and money, and they don’t need it. And I was approached by Bibi Netanyahu, and we’ve been talking about it for a couple of years because it’s a lot of money.” Trump said Israel will still be allowed to purchase U.S.made weapons and munitions. 

Trump also said ending the aid package would defang some of his administration's most vocal critics on the left.

“Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like El-Sayed?” Trump said, referring to the Democrat running in Michigan against Mike Rogers for a U.S. senate seat. El-Sayed has been obsessive about the U.S. ending aid to Israel. “You take that off the table,” Trump said. Watch a portion of the interview below.