President Donald Trump made a bizarre comment that the U.S. may stop giving money to Israel, which was a bombshell for both countries. Since then, the story has gotten even weirder.
“Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping… We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel. Now we’ll help Israel if they need it," Trump said speaking to "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday morning. Trump said it would end at the end of 2026, when the agreement with the U.S. doesn't have the funding set to stop until 2028.
Trump has tried to clean it up, saying the U.S. would still sell weapons to Israel and could provide help if Israel needed it, but that came from Trump—not a separate White House correction.
Fox host Brian Kilmeade was quick to ask what Trump meant, and the president never fully answered the question. Instead, Trump changed the subject and repeated that Israel “doesn’t need it," meaning the money.
The Jerusalem Post reported several hours later that the White House said Trump "misspoke."
The report included an odd detail: "Also, Trump did not make this announcement of his own initiative, with advisers nearby shepherding him through."
"And the most stunning part of all of this was that Trump said ending the aid in 2026, as opposed to 2028, was all Netanyahu's idea," said JPost.
Where it got stranger, however, is that the report claimed Trump just popped off; there was some big policy announcement.
"Also, Trump did not make this announcement of his own initiative, with advisers nearby shepherding him through," wrote the JPost. It raises questions about why Trump would need "advisers nearby shepherding him through" a Fox News interview. "Rather, he tossed it out in response to a question in an interview on Fox News."
As questions about Trump's health and mental wellness persist. Dr. Henry David Abraham, a Tufts psychiatry professor emeritus, told AlterNet last month that Trump’s “grandiosity,” angry outbursts, rambling speech and word-finding problems were “consistent with evolving dementia,” while also raising the possibility of a mood disorder. He emphasized that these were his assessments, not a diagnosis.
Dr. John Paul Garrison, a clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in body language, made the observations. He watched Trump's speech at the Reflecting Pool on Monday. and suggested that the president is suffering a severe decline, possibly even accelerated by a stroke.
It also fits Trump’s account that Netanyahu raised the idea, rather than Trump deciding independently to end the aid. Trump said Netanyahu “brought it up” and that they had discussed it for a couple of years.
As Media Matters for America fellow Matthew Gertz pointed out, the comment from Trump "wasn’t a one-off. Trump repeated it several times during the interview, answered multiple questions, gave his reasoning, and even said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked for it!"
