Trump's cuts reach the legendary Radio Free Liberty and Voice of America

BerlinTrump's second-term budget cuts have reached their means of influencing public opinion. Voice of America staff received an email on Saturday notifying them that their work was being suspended and they were not to use their facilities again. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia have also lost funding.

Radio Free Europe believes its dismantling will be a huge gift to America's enemies, after President Donald Trump ordered funding cut off for the Prague-based US foreign broadcaster and Voice of America (VOA) on Friday. "Canceling the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty grant agreement would be a huge gift to America's enemies," the station's president, Stephen Capus, warned in a statement Sunday.

"Iranian ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. Giving our adversaries a victory would make them stronger and make America weaker," Capus added. Republicans and Democrats alike.

"Closed companies"

"The nearly 50 million people living in closed societies who depend on us for accurate news and information each week will be cut off from the truth about America and the world," lamented the president of the legendary radio station, known for its broadcasts behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is an international broadcaster with radio, internet, television, and mobile programs reaching a weekly audience of nearly 50 million people in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, in 27 languages. Its mission is "to promote democratic values ​​by providing accurate, uncensored news and open debate in countries where press freedom is threatened and misinformation is widespread," explains the station on its website, which uses technology to circumvent censorship in the countries where it broadcasts.

Prague-based RFE/RL was until now funded by the US Congress through USAGM, an agency that oversees all international broadcasting services of the US federal government. During the Cold War, Radio Free Europe, founded in 1950 as a source of anti-communist propaganda, broadcast to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, while Radio Liberty began broadcasting to the Soviet Union in 1953.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky recalled that when Radio Free Europe began broadcasting, "it was a beacon for those whom totalitarianism had deprived of the truth. Today, the situation is no different." "From Belarus to Iran, from Russia to Afghanistan, Radio Free Europe and Voice of America remain among the few free sources of information for those living under oppression. Silencing them would not only be a loss for them, but for all of us who believe in democracy," he told the networks.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday to shut down de facto, or drastically reduce the operations of various government agencies, including USAGM, which funds Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia (RFA), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and Radio Martí, which broadcasts in Spanish in Cuba.

"Radical propaganda"

The Trump White House, which accuses these media outlets of being biased, has sought to ensure, with the cuts, that American taxpayers are not funding "radical propaganda." Tech mogul Elon Musk, who heads the US government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), already demanded the closure of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe in February. "Shut them down," Musk told his social media platform X, arguing that "Europe is now free" and that "no one listens to them anymore." According to the Tesla owner, those who run these programs "are just radical left-wing lunatics talking to themselves while burning $1 billion of American taxpayer money every year."