Trump says the US will stop sending $4 billion a year to Israel and blames the Fed for unbalanced budget

President Donald Trump stated, in an interview with Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program, on the day of the midterm elections, that the United States will stop paying Israel the $4 billion a year that was being transferred. According to him, the cut will be effective from the end of this year, and the measure was agreed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who "is fine with it".

Trump justified the decision by saying that Israel "has become a very successful country" and no longer needs the money. He stated that Washington will remain willing to help if its ally needs it, and that Israel will be able to buy the weapons it wants, just like Europe. Asked by presenter Brian whether the aid was in equipment or money, the president said that "consider a barter, military aid or money."

The president also linked the issue to the electoral dispute. According to Trump, the left uses the payment of US$4 billion as a point of political attack, and he cited Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, in Michigan, who, according to a question from one of the presenters, is betting on the new generation's lack of interest in selling weapons to Israel. Trump said taking the issue off the table takes that argument away from opponents.

Fed, interest and public accounts

The point of greatest interest for the market came when Trump said he would like to balance the American budget and that he believes he is capable of doing so. In his opinion, if the Federal Reserve had reduced interest rates, the US would have a balanced budget quickly. "It's a shame," he declared, criticizing a Fed that, according to him, is "populated by Obama and Biden people."

Trump defended that the country pays the lowest interest rate in the world, as it is, in his words, the most "prime" country. For investors, the speech reinforces political pressure on the central bank and the expectation that the White House will continue to demand interest cuts, an issue with a direct effect on Treasury bonds, the dollar and the stock market.

Economy and foreign policy

In the president's own assessment, the economy is strong. He said inflation was "resolved" and claimed that oil fell by $10. According to Trump, the US has "complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz through a naval blockade, and he cited a Wall Street Journal report that more oil left the strait last week than at any other time. Trump also said he had broken a historic export record, defended the tax cuts that he classified as the biggest in history (without tax on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits for the elderly) and attributed announcements of new factories, such as Audi and Toyota, to tariffs.

Regarding Iran, the president said that the military operation knocked out the country's nuclear capacity and classified the most recent action, against an anti-aircraft installation, as a "minor attack" and not war. He further stated that Canada must supply fertilizers and that a tariff-free trade agreement is close.

Trump said defense companies are building 18 factories to expand missile production, after he said they spent $51 billion on stock buybacks before his arrival. The statements are the president's and have not been independently verified in the transcript.

At the end of the interview, Trump asked voters to "keep America great" and said he hoped tonight's result would be better than anyone imagines.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.