President Trump has signed a new executive order that aims to end taxpayer subsidization of biased media.
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order to end taxpayer funding of National Public Radio and PBS.
Trump signed the executive order to curb biased and partisan news coverage.
The executive order stated, “Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options.”
It added, “Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
BREAKING: President Trump signs Executive Order aiming to end taxpayer funding of NPR and PBS. pic.twitter.com/TQWCciDWH0
— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) May 2, 2025
🚨BREAKING: President Trump signs an executive order cutting off taxpayer funding for NPR and PBS. pic.twitter.com/3OYCqcnQjh
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 2, 2025
Per NBC News:
President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Thursday to end public funding of National Public Radio and PBS to stop what he called “biased and partisan news coverage.”
The order directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to “cease federal funding for NPR and PBS” to the extent allowed by law. The order could be challenged in court.
The White House said in a Friday statement that both organizations had received “tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.'”
“Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options,” the executive order reads. “Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
Trump and his loyalists, including Elon Musk, have long complained that NPR and PBS are biased and promote left-wing causes, an allegation staunchly denied by executives at both organizations. Last month, Trump called for their defunding on Truth Social, calling them “RADICAL LEFT ‘MONSTERS’ THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY!”
Brian Stelter is not happy about Trump defunding state media PBS and NPR: “Congress was really specific 50 years ago. They wanted to create an entity that was free of government control.”
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 2, 2025
Here’s what the White House reported:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) receive taxpayer funds through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options. Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.
At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage. No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize. The CPB’s governing statute reflects principles of impartiality: the CPB may not “contribute to or otherwise support any political party.” 47 U.S.C. 396(f)(3); see also id. 396(e)(2).
The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS. Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.
I therefore instruct the CPB Board of Directors (CPB Board) and all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS.
BREAKING: President Trump signs Executive Order aiming to end taxpayer funding of NPR and PBS. pic.twitter.com/TQWCciDWH0
— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) May 2, 2025
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