President Trump CANCELS State Department Media Subscriptions

In the latest move to cut wasteful spending, President Trump’s administration has cut all State Department subscriptions to non-essential media outlets.

Fake news legacy media like The New York Times and AP are prime targets.

State Department staff will now have to justify, in one sentence, why having access to an outlet is beneficial to our nation in order to keep using taxpayer money to subscribe.

Take a look:

BREAKING: Trump has canceled the State Department subscriptions to the New York Times, Reuters, the Associated Press pic.twitter.com/w4ByOah6rj

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 19, 2025

🚨 🇺🇸 STATE DEPT CUTS OFF MEDIA SUBSCRIPTIONS IN LATEST DOGE MOVE

State Department pauses "non-mission critical" media subscriptions, targeting outlets like NYT, Economist, and Reuters.

Staff must now justify why access is "mission critical" to keep their subscriptions.… pic.twitter.com/0RSjFtuxPZ

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 20, 2025

The New York Post reported:

The Trump administration has ordered the State Department to terminate all non-essential news subscriptions to outlets such as the New York Times, AP, Reuters and Bloomberg News.

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The move, which was first reported by the Washington Post, comes amid a broader effort to slash government expenditures.

A memo issued Feb. 11 instructed US embassies and consulates across Europe to cancel subscriptions deemed non-essential, citing budgetary concerns, according to the Washington Post.

The guidance ordered personnel to “immediately place Stop Work Orders on all non-mission critical contracts/purchase orders for media subscriptions (publications, periodicals, and newspaper subscriptions) that are not academic or professional journals.”

On Feb. 14, a follow-up memo directed procurement teams to prioritize the cancellation of contracts with six major news organizations: the Economist, the Times, Politico, Bloomberg News, AP and Reuters.

The directive offered limited exceptions, stating that if embassies sought to retain a subscription, they could submit a justification but were restricted to “one sentence.”

Justifications were required to demonstrate that the subscription either improved national security, strengthened the country, or contributed to prosperity.

Reuters added:

The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it has ordered a pause on all of its media subscriptions as part of government-wide efforts by the Trump administration to cut spending it deems as unnecessary.

President Donald Trump has put tech billionaire Elon Musk in charge of a government downsizing team, DOGE, that has swept through federal agencies searching for spending cuts as part of Trump’s overhaul and shrinking of the U.S. government.

“The Department has paused all non-mission critical contracts for media subscriptions that are not academic or professional journals,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

“Bureaus and posts can request an exemption with justification as to why the access is mission critical, how it aligns with the Secretary’s priorities, and how it impacts the safety, security, and welfare of the workforce.” The State Department did not say how long the pause would last.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said all government spending must align with Trump’s America First priorities.