KUALA LUMPUR – US President Donald Trump’s administration has placed more than 1,300 employees of Voice of America (VOA) on administrative leave and terminated funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), two major US-funded international broadcasters, effectively halting their operations.
The move follows an executive order signed by Trump on Friday, which listed the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) among federal agencies deemed “unnecessary”.
The decision impacts multiple media outlets, including RFE/RL and Radio Free Asia RFA, which have historically provided independent news to audiences in countries with restricted press freedom, such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
The sudden cuts have led to staff being barred from their offices, with instructions to return press credentials, office-issued phones, and equipment, according to AFP.
Michael Abramowitz, the director of VOA, expressed his dismay at the decision.
“I am deeply saddened that for the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” he said in a LinkedIn post.
“VOA has played an important role in the fight for freedom and democracy around the world.”
The president of RFE/RL, Stephen Capus, in a statement, described the cuts as “a massive gift to America’s enemies.”
He added, “The Iranian ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years.”
The termination of USAGM funding also extends to RFA, which was established in 1996 to provide uncensored reporting to countries with controlled media environments, including China, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
RFA president Bay Fang said that the decision was “a reward to dictators and despots, including the Chinese Communist Party, who would like nothing better than to have their influence go unchecked,” Reuters reported.
The move comes after Trump appointed Kari Lake, a former Arizona news anchor and vocal supporter of his administration, to oversee USAGM following her failed Senate bid. Lake, in an email to media organisations under USAGM, justified the funding cuts by stating that federal grants “no longer effectuate agency priorities.”
In a separate statement, she described USAGM as “a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer” and said it was “not salvageable.”
The White House echoed this sentiment, asserting that the decision was aimed at reducing government spending and eliminating what it called “radical propaganda.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Trump’s administration, has been an advocate of shutting down USAGM.
In February, he called for the closure of RFE/RL and VOA, claiming they were run by “left-wing radical lunatics talking to themselves.” On Saturday, Musk mocked the agency’s closure, referring to it as the “Department of Propaganda Everywhere (DOPE)” in a post on X.
The cuts have drawn international criticism. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky described RFE/RL as a “beacon” for people living under totalitarian regimes. “From Belarus to Iran, from Russia to Afghanistan, RFE and Voice of America are among the few free sources for people living without freedom,” he wrote on X.
The National Press Club in Washington also condemned the move, with its president, Mike Balsamo, saying that it “undermined America’s commitment to a free and independent press.”
Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders added that the decision “threatens press freedom worldwide and negates 80 years of American history in supporting a free flow of information.”
The move is part of a broader government restructuring effort by the Trump administration. The executive order also targeted six other agencies, including the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Minority Business Development Agency, for cuts that would limit them to their legally required minimum functions. – March 16, 2025