Trump Administration Approved $21.6 Billion in Arms Deals to Israel Since January 2025, State Department Notifications Show

Presidential notifications to Congress and US State Department records covering January 20, 2025, through September 17, 2026, show the Trump administration has approved arms deals for Israel worth $21.6 billion over 20 months.

The figure follows an earlier tranche: a Brown University study found the Biden administration approved more than $17.9 billion in military aid and arms sales to Israel between October 2023 and early 2025.

The deals, by date

In the first week of Trump's return to office, the administration lifted a Biden-era suspension on a $2.04 billion shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that had been paused in 2024 amid criticism of their use in Gaza.

In early February 2025, the State Department notified Congress of a $7.4 billion package.

It included 20,000 bombs, guidance systems and equipment worth $6.75 billion, and 3,000 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles worth $660 million.

Separate notifications that same period added a $675 million deal for 5,000 1,000-pound bombs and guidance kits, and a $295 million sale of Caterpillar bulldozers. The administration invoked emergency authority to bypass the standard congressional review window, citing national security.

After the US and Israel struck Iran in June 2025, Washington approved $510 million in precision guidance kits, more than 7,000 units, to help Israel rebuild munitions stockpiles. The Wall Street Journal reported in September 2025 that the administration was separately seeking approval for a deal exceeding $6 billion; that package was finalized in January 2026 at $6.67 billion, funded through the Foreign Military Financing program and including 30 Apache helicopters and 3,250 assault vehicles.

In March 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked emergency powers to approve a $650 million sale of 12,000 1,000-pound bombs and additional 500-pound bombs, exempting the deal from congressional review after Israel requested more than 20,000 bombs following the start of the Iran war. Reuters reported a further $298 million in direct munitions sales around the same time. On May 1, Rubio again used emergency authority to approve $992.4 million for 10,000 APKWS laser-guided rocket systems.

Most recently, the State Department informally notified the top Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate of a pending $2.8 billion deal covering 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, 20,000 BLU-117 bombs, and 20,000 I-2000 penetrating warheads. The 2,000-pound bomb class is among the most destructive conventional munitions in US inventories, capable of penetrating thick concrete and scattering fragments across a wide radius.

Bypassing review

According to the record, Congress has not blocked an arms sale to Israel in the period covered, despite Democratic objections to several packages. Emergency authority, which allows the executive branch to complete sales without the standard review window, was invoked repeatedly, in February 2025, March 2026, and May 2026.

At least half of the $21.6 billion total is described as military aid funded by US taxpayers through the Foreign Military Financing program, though the full breakdown across deals is not itemized in the record.

The source article asserts the weapons transferred in this period were used in the killing of more than 50,000 civilians in Gaza and characterizes the campaign as genocide. That casualty figure and characterization are disputed and are not independently verified in this record; they are presented here as the publication's claim, not an established fact.