Trump administration ordered to restore funding to US propaganda outlet
RFE/RL was a key tool for spreading Western propaganda in the Soviet bloc during the Cold War and was funded by the CIA. The outlet currently receives nearly all of its funding from Congress.
The Trump administration has sought to cut funding for RFE/RL and several other state-linked outlets. It has denounced the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the body that oversees state-funded media, saying it is 'not salvageable,' while indulging in 'obscene overspending.' The administration also claimed it is crawling with 'spies and terrorist sympathizers.'
Consequently, the USAGM essentially froze funding for RFE/RL and refused to enter into a new contract with the outlet after the previous agreement expired in March. This led to staff furloughs and programming cuts, though the EU stepped in to fill the budgetary gap.
On Friday, Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Trump administration lacks the legal authority to refuse Congress-approved funding of more than $70 million, arguing that they provided no clear basis for the move.
'It is unprecedented for an agency to demand that entirely new terms govern its decades-old working relationship with a grantee entity,' he wrote. He went on to rebuke the USAGM for a lack of responses to RFE/RL to negotiate a new agreement, describing it as 'stonewalling' and adding that the agency went dark for days or even weeks.
The 'USAGM's flagrant disregard for its funding responsibilities' caused RFE/RL to suffer 'mass furloughs, cancelation of programming, and inevitable damage to the global influence that RFE/RL has built over decades,' the ruling said.
RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus welcomed the court's decision. 'This victory provides our journalists with the momentum necessary to continue reaching the nearly 47 million people each week... With this ruling, RFE/RL can continue to advance US national security interests.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
8 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Taiwanese leader blocked from New York stopover
The administration of US President Donald Trump has refused to allow Taiwan's Lai Ching-te to stop over in New York on a planned trip to Central America, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the decision. The move reportedly followed objections from Beijing. Lai, who leads the self-governing Chinese island, had reportedly planned an August trip to Paraguay, Guatemala, and Belize, which formally recognize Taiwan's independence, with proposed stopovers in New York and Dallas. On Monday, however, Lai's office said no overseas travel was scheduled for the near future, citing recovery efforts from a recent typhoon and ongoing trade negotiations with the US. Sources told the FT that the change came after Lai was denied the New York stopover. It remains unclear whether the restriction applied solely to New York or to US transit in general. Several Western media outlets, including Bloomberg and Reuters, had previously reported on the planned trip and mentioned possible stopovers in the US. On Tuesday, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry denied that Lai had been blocked from transiting through the US. The ministry said no request had been refused and reiterated that Lai had no immediate plans for overseas travel due to domestic and diplomatic priorities. The reported transit block comes amid US-China trade talks. Shortly after returning to office in January, Trump escalated a trade war by imposing new tariffs and tightening export controls. China responded with retaliatory measures, although both sides recently agreed to pause further actions and set an August 12 deadline to reach a broader agreement. Self-rule was established in Taiwan by nationalist forces after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Only a small number of countries currently recognize the island's sovereignty, while most of the international community complies with Beijing's One-China policy. Tensions between China and the US over Taiwan remain a major flashpoint. Beijing strongly opposes any official contact between Washington and Taipei, which continues to maintain relations through arms sales, trade, and diplomatic exchanges.
Russia Today
7 hours ago
- Russia Today
US must recognize North Korea as a nuclear power – Kim's sister
The US must acknowledge that North Korea has permanently become a nuclear-armed nation, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has said. She also warned that personal ties between her brother and US President Donald Trump should not be used to compel Pyongyang to denuclearize. In a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday, Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, cautioned that any future dialogue should be based on 'the recognition of the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state.' Another prerequisite should be the understanding that Pyongyang's capabilities and geopolitical environment 'have radically changed' compared to Trump's first term, which saw historic US-North Korea diplomacy, she added. Kim said any effort to deny this reality 'will be thoroughly rejected' and that North Korea 'is open to any option in defending its present national position.' At the same time, she acknowledged that 'it is by no means beneficial to each other for the two countries possess[ing] nuclear weapons to go in a confrontational direction.' While acknowledging that 'the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present US president is not bad,' Kim warned that 'if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the US are to serve the purpose of denuclearization, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party.' 'If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, a DPRK-US meeting will remain as a 'hope' of the US side,' Kim concluded. Trump met Kim Jong-un three times between 2018 and 2019 in an effort to negotiate North Korea's denuclearization in exchange for security guarantees and economic relief. Despite the unprecedented diplomacy, no lasting deal was reached and talks stalled. North Korea is estimated to have around 50 nuclear weapons and insists that the arsenal is a vital deterrent against a potential incursion by the US and South Korea, which regularly hold military drills near its borders.
Russia Today
7 hours ago
- Russia Today
Indian foreign minister refutes Trump's repeated claims on Pakistan ceasefire
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has dismissed claims by US President Donald Trump that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan during their military confrontation in May, using trade as an incentive. He made the remarks on Monday while addressing the lower house of parliament on India's military confrontation with Pakistan – Operation Sindoor – which followed a terrorist attack on April 22 in Indian-administered Kashmir that claimed 26 lives. 'I want to make two things clear – one, at no stage in any conversation with the United States, was there any linkage with trade and what was going on,' Jaishankar said. 'Secondly, there was no call between the prime minister and President Trump from the 22nd of April – when President Trump called up to convey his sympathy – and 17th of June when he called up the prime minister in Canada to explain why he could not meet him.' The South Asian neighbors were involved in a military conflict from May 7 to 10. Before they formally announced a ceasefire, Trump claimed on Truth Social that a deal was reached following a 'long night of talks' mediated by Washington. Trump, along with other US government officials, have made the claim several times and even stated in an official court submission that the ceasefire was agreed after Trump intervened and offered both countries 'access to the American market.' EAM Jaishankar AGAIN Refutes Trump's Claim Of India-Pakistan Mediation: Trade Talks Amid Conflict 'At No Stage' Earlier this month, Trump said five aircraft were shot down during the conflict, without specifying whose planes they were. He described the situation as tense, with both sides exchanging blows, and claimed that he 'called them and said, listen, no more trade. If you do this, you're not going to be good... They're both powerful nuclear nations and that would have happened.' In a series of interviews with European media outlets following the ceasefire, Jaishankar dismissed Trump's statements. 'The cessation of firing was agreed between the military commanders of both sides through direct contact,' he told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in May.
