Trump releases 2,000-pound bomb shipments to Israel held up by Biden

Speaking to a group of reporters on 'Air Force One' on Saturday evening, US President Donald Trump said he was releasing to Israel the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that the previous Biden Administration had delayed.

“We released them. We released them today. And they’ll have them. They paid for them, and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time. They’ve been in storage,” Trump told the reporters during the same press conference in which he also said he wanted to see Arab nations receive more Gazan evacuees. 

President Trump also announced the release on his Truth social media platform. 

Former President Joe Biden had delayed the shipment of bombs to Israel over fears that they would be used in Gaza, possibly causing increased civilian casualties during strikes on high-level Hamas targets. 

When asked by reporters why he had decided to release the shipment, Trump replied, “Because they bought them.” 

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar thanked President Trump in a post to 𝕏 for "another display of leadership."

Thank you President Trump @realDonaldTrump for yet another display of leadership by releasing the crucial defense shipment to Israel. The region is safer when Israel has what it needs to defend itself. 🇮🇱🇺🇸

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) January 26, 2025

While Biden was quick to support Israel in the immediate aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of southern Israel, he also quickly began to entertain doubts about Israel’s methods of waging the war apparently raised by members of his administration. 

Those suspicions led to several weapon shipment delays and threats to implement more restrictive weapon embargoes, if Israel did not meet certain humanitarian aid goals set by the U.S. administration. 

The issue of weapon shipments became a largely partisan issue in Congress later in the war, and Biden’s continued willingness to aid Israel also contributed to a loss of support among younger, more left-leaning voters. 

At one point, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly accused the U.S. of “withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel.” 

“It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel,” Netanyahu said in a video to supporters in June 2024. “Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies.” 

At the time, Biden administration officials claimed not to know what Netanyahu was talking about, however, after a few weeks, officials did admit to some unintentional “bottlenecks” in releasing weapons to the Jewish state. 

In October, then Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a letter to the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, warning him that Israel had 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or else the U.S. would withhold weapon shipments. 

Although Israel made only minimal steps to improve the flow of humanitarian aid following the election victory of Donald Trump, with his clearly pro-Israel stance, the Biden administration did nothing to enforce its threats of weapons delays. 

On Friday, the United States froze almost all foreign assistance, making an exception only for Israel and Egypt.