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Announcing millions of dollars of cuts to online subscriptions, the Trump administration’s press secretary repeated misleading statements used to justify the dismantling of the US government’s international aid and development agency.
ADVERTISEMENTThe White House has said it is cancelling millions of dollars in subscriptions to online news outlet Politico, part of a sweeping programme of cuts that has seen tech entrepreneur Elon Musk given the opportunity to gut government payrolls and budgets — and even to effectively shut down entire US agencies.The announcement came from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told a press conference on Wednesday that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had spent $8m ($7.72m) on subscriptions to the outlet’s Politico Pro output, and that the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) intended to cancel them.”I was made aware of the funding from USAID to media outlets, including Politico, who I know has a seat in this room,” Leavitt told the assembled White House press corps. And I can confirm the more than eight million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidising subscriptions to Politico will no longer be happening. The DOGE team is working on cancelling those payments now.”Leavitt’s announcement was one of several misleading reports that inaccurately stated both the source and purpose of the spending. In fact, several US agencies have collectively spent money subscribing to Politico Pro, the Associated Press and other outlets.Politico has been approached for comment.Several pro-Musk and far-right influencers and journalists have misrepresented the spending as an example of the government intentionally funding “biased” news agencies. Musk himself made the same claim on X, where he has offered a running commentary of sorts on his efforts to gut government spending — a process that has seen him and his associates run roughshod over laws and regulations designed to keep government systems secure, ensure core programmes operate smoothly and protect taxpayers’ private data.Hacking the stateDespite its name, DOGE is not in fact an official government department, and Musk is not an official appointee. Among the areas of the federal apparatus targeted by the DOGE team are the Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management, which have seen Musk’s team granted unprecedented access to IT and budget management systems. Reports differ as to whether their access is read-only or allows them to cancel payments and programme funding streams without oversight — a situation that may yet have severe consequences for millions of Americans who rely on federal programmes not just foor employment, but for healthcare, food, housing assistance and more.Numerous reports have identified a small cadre of Musk associates, some still in their first year at university, who have arrived at various government buildings to demand access to core systems.USAID has been particularly hard hit by DOGE’s efforts, and is on the verge of shutting down after its staff were put on leave and its spending frozen.Musk has described the agency, which operates myriad international humanitarian efforts — including in some of the world’s most severely famine-hit and war-torn regions — as “a criminal organisation,” and has shared various conspiracy theories about its activities.”We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” he posted on Sunday. “Could gone to some great parties. Did that instead.”
