Rubio says Trump wants Israel to buy US arms without American financing

Rubio made the remarks Tuesday on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris. Israel, he said, can still buy American weapons — it just won't get US money to do it. As he put it: they can buy the weapons from us, but we no longer have to provide the financing.

The secretary of state tied the shift directly to Trump's view of Israel's finances, saying the president believes the country is now prosperous and rich enough to arm itself. Rubio added that Trump would like the financing portion to end as soon as possible.

The comments follow Trump's announcement that the United States will halt its $4 billion military aid program to Israel by the end of the year. Rubio did not give a precise cutoff date beyond that, and framed the change as a matter of who picks up the check rather than a halt in sales.

Rubio was in Paris for a packed G7 agenda that also included a meeting with Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha. The two discussed negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war, energy resilience and defense cooperation, Rubio said on X, as trilateral US-Russia-Ukraine talks got underway in Abu Dhabi.