Trump cuts off funding for pro-democracy media outlets VOA and RFERL

The administration of US President Donald Trump has launched a broad cutback of Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other government programmes aimed at defending democracy. The organisation's director said all Voice of America staff have been placed on "administrative" leave.

On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed the latest funding bill, Trump instructed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. These included the U.S. Global Media Agency, a budget-funded government organisation to which the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia, and Radio Marti, which broadcasts Spanish-language news to Cuba, all report.

On Saturday morning, Carey Lake, a failed gubernatorial and US Senate candidate from Arizona whom Trump appointed as a senior adviser to the agency, wrote on website X that employees should check their emails.

In another post she described the U.S. Global Media Agency as "the most corrupt agency in Washington DC."

The video released by Lake talks about cost-cutting measures but does not mention Voice of America's staff or mission. The video was filmed in a building leased by VOA, which Lake called a waste of money. She said she would try to terminate the agency's 15-year lease on the building.

"We're doing everything we can to cancel contracts that can be cancelled, save money, reduce staffing and make sure your dollars are not misused," she said.

The letter places employees on administrative leave and says they will continue to receive pay and benefits "until notified otherwise." The letter instructs employees not to use the Global Media Agency's facilities and to return equipment such as phones and computers.

"A gift for America's enemies"

"For the first time in 83 years, the illustrious Voice of America has gone silent," the organisation's director Michael Abramowitz said in a statement. He added that virtually the entire staff of 1,300 people has been put on leave.

"Voice of America promotes freedom and democracy around the world by telling America's story and providing objective and balanced news and information, especially for those living under tyranny," Abramowitz said.

One reporter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said: "We expected something like this to happen, and it happened just today."

Reporters Without Borders, an international non-governmental organisation, said it "condemns the decision as a departure from the historic role of the United States as a defender of free information and calls on the US government to reinstate Voice of America and calls on Congress and the international community to take action against this unprecedented move."

The US Global Media Agency has also sent out notices terminating grants for Radio Free Asia and other programmes under its purview. "Voice of America" broadcasts United States domestic news to other countries, often translated into local languages. Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and Marty broadcast news to countries with authoritarian regimes in those regions, particularly China, North Korea and Russia.

"The cancellation of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty grant agreement will be a huge gift to America's enemies," network president and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement.

Together, the networks reach about 427 million people. They date back to the Cold War and are part of a network of government-funded organisations trying to expand US influence and fight authoritarianism. These organisations include USAID, another agency that Trump has opposed.

The cuts are a sharp blow to a key element of the post-Cold War order, which has long enjoyed bipartisan support. Voice of America executives included Dick Carlson, father of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.

Thomas Kent, former president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said Trump's intentions for those agencies are still murky. Without these news sources, he said, it will be much harder for the country to get its message out to the world.

"Without international broadcasting, the image of the United States and the Trump administration will be in the hands of others, including opponents of the administration, (as well as) countries and people who view the United States as an enemy," said Kent, an international media ethics consultant.

Trump's downsizing order also includes several other lesser-known government agencies such as the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (a nonpartisan think tank), the US Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.