Abdul El-Sayed backs Trump’s stated Israel aid cut and urges end to weapons sales
Michigan’s senator-elect supported Trump’s reported plan to end military aid to Israel but said U.S. weapons sales should also stop.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s senator-elect, endorsed President Donald Trump’s stated plan to end U.S. military aid to Israel and called for the United States to stop selling weapons to the country. The Abdul El-Sayed Israel aid dispute matters because the reported proposal offers no public details on its effect on an existing aid agreement or weapons transactions.
Speaking after his Senate victory, El-Sayed told NPR’s Morning Edition that Trump was right to seek an end to the aid. He added that he wanted the United States to stop selling weaponry to Israel, describing the use of those weapons in terms that reflect his own view.
NPR reported that Trump had announced plans to end roughly $4 billion in annual military assistance to Israel by the end of the year, without explaining how the change would be carried out. The Guardian also reported that Trump said in a Fox News interview that military aid would end at year-end and indicated that weapons sales would continue.
What did Abdul El-Sayed say about Israel aid?
El-Sayed supported the reported cutoff in military aid, then went beyond Trump’s reported position by urging an end to U.S. weapons sales to Israel. NPR said El-Sayed also questioned U.S. military backing for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan, arguing that U.S. tax dollars should be used domestically.
The reporting does not establish that aid has ended or that Trump’s statement has been implemented as a formal policy. It also does not show how a cutoff would affect existing U.S. commitments, active weapons-sale cases or other security cooperation.
What assistance does the current U.S.-Israel agreement cover?
A State Department fact sheet published in April 2025 said a 10-year U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding covers 2019 through 2028. Under that arrangement, the United States provides $3.3 billion a year in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million for cooperative missile-defense programs.
The department said Israel can use its annual Foreign Military Financing allocation to procure defense articles, services and training through Foreign Military Sales and FMF-funded direct commercial sales. As of April 2025, it listed 751 active Foreign Military Sales cases with Israel valued at $39.2 billion.
Those details mean the reported aid plan and El-Sayed’s call to halt weapons sales raise different unresolved questions. Trump’s reported statement concerned annual military aid, while El-Sayed explicitly said he wanted weapons sales stopped as well.
Israel and the Gaza war were major issues in El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate campaign, according to NPR. The Associated Press called El-Sayed’s victory over Republican Mike Rogers, making him the first Muslim American elected to the Senate, NPR reported.
This story draws on original reporting from NPR.