Washington, March 16, 2025: U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an order to drastically scale back the federally funded news organization Voice of America (VOA), accusing it of being “anti-Trump” and “radical.”
A White House statement said the move would “ensure taxpayers are no longer funding radical propaganda,” citing right-wing media and politicians who have criticized VOA as “leftist” and “partisan.”
Founded during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA primarily operates as a radio service, reaching hundreds of millions worldwide. The order also affects VOA’s parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which funds outlets such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, originally created to counter communism. The directive instructs managers to “reduce performance… to the minimum presence and function required by law.”
VOA Director Mike Abramowitz confirmed that he and nearly all 1,300 staff members had been placed on paid leave. He warned that the order jeopardized VOA’s “vital mission,” particularly at a time when adversaries like Iran, China, and Russia are investing billions in disinformation campaigns against the U.S.
CBS, the BBC’s news partner in the U.S., reported that VOA employees were informed via email by USAGM’s human resources director, Crystal Thomas. A source told CBS that freelance workers and international contractors were informed there were no funds to pay them. Emails obtained by CBS also revealed that federal grants for Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty had been terminated.
VOA and other USAGM-backed stations serve more than 400 million listeners worldwide and are comparable to the BBC World Service, which receives partial funding from the British government.
Billionaire Elon Musk, a top adviser to Trump and a key figure in government spending cuts, has publicly called for VOA’s closure via his social media platform, X. The administration has also slashed funding for other federal agencies, including those supporting homelessness prevention, museums, and libraries.
Trump, who was critical of VOA during his first term, recently appointed Kari Lake, a staunch loyalist, as a special adviser to USAGM. The president frequently accuses mainstream media of bias, labeling CNN and MSNBC as “corrupt” and “illegal” without evidence during a recent speech at the Justice Department.
The White House statement cited several right-wing media reports alleging VOA’s bias. It included an article from the conservative Washington Times by former VOA White House correspondent Dan Robinson, who described the organization as “a hubris-filled rogue operation reflecting a leftist bias.” Other cited reports accused VOA managers of instructing staff not to refer to Hamas as a “terrorist organization” and of suppressing negative coverage of Iran. Additionally, it referenced VOA’s 2020 election coverage, claiming it favored Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden.
VOA was established in 1942 to counter Axis propaganda, with its first broadcast made on a BBC-loaned transmitter. In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed VOA’s public charter to safeguard its editorial independence. The 1994 establishment of the Broadcast Board of Governors provided oversight for U.S. non-military international broadcasting, and a 2013 legislative shift allowed VOA and affiliates to begin broadcasting domestically.
