Senator-Elect El-Sayed Says He Would Work With Trump to Cut US Military Aid to Israel

Abdul El-Sayed, elected this week as the first Muslim American to serve in the US Senate, told MS NOW on Thursday that he agrees with President Donald Trump's recent remarks about cutting aid to Israel and would work with the president to end it.

"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.

The Michigan Democrat made the comments in Detroit two days after his election, according to Anadolu Agency. He pointed to Israeli policy in the occupied West Bank and restrictions on basic resources in the Gaza Strip, repeating his prior characterization of the war as a genocide.

El-Sayed drew a line between Judaism and the Israeli state's conduct, pushing back on the idea that criticism of Israel amounts to antisemitism.

"We're told that if you want to stand up against the murder of innocent Palestinian children, that's somehow about hate for anybody," he said. "It's about equal love for those Palestinian children."

He said he remained committed to the safety of Jewish families in the US, speaking as a Muslim parent, and framed his willingness to work with Trump as a matter of governing rather than political alignment.

"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," he said.

The nexus

El-Sayed's win came in a cycle that saw heavy outside spending tied to pro-Israel groups aimed at Democratic candidates critical of US military support for Israel. His election, and now his public alignment with a Republican president's call to cut that aid, marks a rare bipartisan crack in the Washington consensus on unconditional funding for the Israeli military, a consensus Congress has maintained through annual appropriations for decades.

El-Sayed has not yet been sworn in. His remarks do not constitute a legislative proposal, and no bill to cut aid has been introduced by either El-Sayed or Trump as of this report. The House minority leader has separately signaled opposition to any effort to cut off aid to Israel, according to prior Anadolu reporting.