The Trump administration has ordered the State Department to terminate all non-essential news subscriptions to outlets such as the New York Times, The Associated Press, Reuters, and Bloomberg News.
First move Reported by the Washington Postin broader efforts to reduce government spending.
According to the Washington Post, the memo issued on February 11 has directed US embassies and consulates across Europe to cancel subscriptions that are deemed non-essential, citing budgetary concerns. .
The guidance states that “instructs you to immediately ship suspended orders to all non-disputed important agreements/purchase orders for non-academic or specialized media subscriptions (publications, periodicals, and newspaper subscriptions). Ta.
On February 14, a follow-up memo directed the procurement team to prioritize cancellation of contracts with six major news organizations: Economist, Times, Politico, Bloomberg News, The Associated Press and Reuters.
The directive provides a limited exception and said that if the embassy attempts to retain a subscription, it could file justifications, but was limited to “one sentence.”
Justification was needed to demonstrate that subscriptions improved national security, strengthened the country, and contributed to prosperity.
The post has been seeking comment from the State Department and six news outlets.
“As a policy issue, Reuters has not commented on the commercial agreement,” a Reuters spokesperson told the post.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration ordered the General Services Agency (GSA) to terminate all media agreements, including subscriptions to Politico, BBC, E&E and Bloomberg.
The order first reported by Axios followed an online backlash over revelation that the agency paid for a Politico Pro subscription, claiming that the Biden administration was funding anti-Trump media.
Politico's leadership refuted the theory of conspiracy, making it clear that the company never received government funding and that Politico Pro operates as a professional subscription service obtained through the standard procurement process .
The AP has been criticized by the Trump administration for its continued use of the Gulf of Mexico rather than the Gulf of America.
Since February 12, Associated Press reporters have been banned from White House events and are restricted from traveling in Air Force 1.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration ousted several left-leaning mainstream news organizations out of the Pentagon workspace to spin in a more friendly outlet.
CNN, Washington Post, Hills and War Zones were asked to leave the space for News Max, Washington Examiners, Daily Callers and Free Press to move in. .
The shift follows a similar policy announced last week, with NBC News, The Times, NPR and Politico ordering space to be freed.
Their offices had been reassigned to one American news network, The Post, Breitbart News and Huffpost.
