Trump promotes misleading claims about federal government’s media subscriptions
Federal government payments for subscriptions to media outlets have become the latest target of President Donald Trump's spending hawks
NEW YORK — Federal government payments to news outlets like Politico, The New York Times and The Associated Press for subscriptions or to license content are in the crosshairs of Trump administration spending hawks, with the president on Thursday calling it potentially “THE BIGGEST SCANDAL OF THEM ALL.”
It’s the latest in a series of skirmishes with the media, long a target of Donald Trump and his supporters. The Defense Department last week evicted NPR, NBC, the Times and Politico from their Pentagon workspaces, and Trump has continued to criticize CBS’ “60 Minutes” for its handling of an interview with former opponent Kamala Harris last fall. Free press advocates are also concerned about Trump’s plans for the media outlet Voice of America, whose charter guarantees its editorial freedom.
This time, though, is a bit different. By linking federal government spending to the media, Trump has bundled two of his long-favored political targets into one rhetorical package — denouncing a common practice as untoward while offering no supporting evidence for his assertions.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the government had paid more than $8 million for Politico subscriptions and that Elon Musk's government efficiency team “is working on canceling those payments.” That quickly set off a social-media maelstrom and a hunt by online sleuths for other evidence of taxpayer spending on the news.
“The U.S. government must stop paying for media subscriptions. Now,” Richard Grenell, Trump's special mission envoy, posted on X.
Trump, on his Truth Social platform, complained
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