The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Trump administration to “put American first” following a new report by the Costs of War project at Brown University that the United States spent more than $30 billion in support of Israel’s genocide and its other wars in the Middle East over the past two years beyond the $3.8 billion Israel already receives every year.
Newsweek reports: “Between October 2023 and September 2025, the U.S. devoted $21.7 billion in military aid to its top Middle East ally, Israel, while an additional range of $9.65−$12.07 billion has been spent by the U.S. on operations conducted in Yemen, Iran and elsewhere in the region in relation to the spillover of the conflict.
“Altogether, the final figure is estimated to be between $31.35 billion and $33.77 billion, excluding additional sales still slated for Israel, which has already witnessed a historic increase in U.S. military assistance at the onset of the conflict.”
“These numbers are staggering, especially at a time when millions of Americans are struggling with the cost of living, housing insecurity and lack of access to basic services,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “It is both morally and fiscally irresponsible to funnel tens of billions of U.S. tax dollars to fund a foreign military carrying out a genocide, while ignoring urgent domestic needs.”
He added: “The Trump administration must start putting America first — not foreign interests that drag us into endless wars and damage our global standing. American tax dollars should be used to build hospitals and schools here at home, not to destroy them abroad.”
Yesterday, CAIR marked two years since the Oct. 7 attack in Israel and the start of the genocide in Gaza by reiterating its opposition to all violence against civilians, calling for America’s political leaders to do the same and saying that it is “long past time” for the genocide to end, for all hostages and political prisoners to go free, and for a credible path to establishing a liberated Palestinian state free from Israeli occupation or western colonial oversight.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com