El-Sayed backs Trump’s call to cut off Israel aid
Senator-elect says American taxpayers should no longer finance Israel's genocide in Gaza, pledging to work with Trump to end US military assistance to Israel
DETROIT (MNTV) — Abdul El-Sayed, the first Muslim American elected to the U.S. Senate, has endorsed President Donald Trump’s remarks calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel, arguing that American taxpayers should not continue financing Israel’s genocide in Gaza with US-supplied weapons.
Speaking to MS NOW, El-Sayed welcomed Trump’s position and expressed his willingness to work with the president to end American military assistance to Israel, highlighting an issue that has increasingly exposed divisions within Washington over unconditional support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“I agree with him on that. I don’t think we should be continuing to subsidize a foreign military that had done the worst things with our money. I agree. I would love to work with him on doing that,” El-Sayed said.
His remarks reflect growing demands among progressive lawmakers and voters for Washington to reconsider its longstanding military and political backing of Israel, particularly amid the devastating consequences of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and continuing restrictions in the occupied West Bank.
El-Sayed also challenged attempts to conflate opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza with hostility toward Jewish people, insisting that defending Palestinian lives and rights should not be portrayed as antisemitism.
Pointing to the killing of Palestinian children and the denial of basic resources to Gaza’s population, he argued that solidarity with Palestinians is rooted in a commitment to equal human dignity.
“We’re told that if you want to stand up against the murder of innocent Palestinian children, that’s somehow about hatred for anybody,” he said. “It’s about equal love for those Palestinian children.”
The senator-elect also underscored his commitment to protecting Jewish children and families in the United States, rejecting the idea that defending Palestinian rights must come at the expense of Jewish safety.
Drawing on his own experiences as a Muslim parent, he stressed the importance of ensuring that all children can grow up without fear or discrimination.
Addressing his potential relationship with Trump, El-Sayed said he was prepared to cooperate with political opponents when doing so could advance the public interest. He argued that political leadership should prioritize accountability, the rule of law and material improvements in people’s lives rather than partisan retaliation.
“I want to talk about something because I think people see our politics as this game where you get retribution on the other side,” he said. “It’s not about retribution. It should never be about retribution. It’s about enforcing the rule of law and, most importantly, delivering for the American public.”
El-Sayed’s position also highlights the political significance of challenging the bipartisan consensus that has traditionally protected US military assistance to Israel from serious scrutiny. His willingness to cooperate with Trump on the issue suggests that opposition to unconditional military aid could create unexpected political alignments, even across sharp ideological divisions.
As he prepares to enter the Senate, the central challenge will be translating such positions into legislative pressure capable of changing Washington’s approach to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including its military financing and accountability for the use of American weapons.
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