Zürcher Nachrichten - Trump calls for end to US public media funding

Trump's attacks on traditional media have intensified since his return to the White House, with the Republican president repeatedly attacking journalists critical of his administration, restricting access and bringing lawsuits.

His latest comments came after Congressional Republicans took aim at federal funding for US public media on Wednesday, accusing it during a hearing of "brainwashing the American people".

Trump claimed that radio network NPR and broadcast channel PBS were "arms of the Radical Left Democrat Party."

"NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms... should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Trump ally, told the hearing: "We will be calling for the complete and total defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)."

The CPB is a nonprofit that oversees US public media funding.

"The content that is being put out through these state-sponsored outlets is so radical it is brainwashing the American people, and more significantly American children," Greene told the heads of National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

She criticized the outlets for pushing a political agenda that included "the LGBTQ indoctrination of children" and "the systemic racism narrative," as well as being "anti-family, pro-crime fake news."

- 'Enemy of the people' -

The attacks by Greene echo media criticism by Trump, who frequently refers to legacy news media as the "enemy of the people."

Greene also sits on the House Committee on Government Efficiency, formed in support of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Trump's billionaire advisor Elon Musk and charged with slashing federal spending.

However, the CPB -- established nearly 60 years ago -- has already had its budget approved by Congress until 2027, with more than $500 million in funding.

Some 40 million Americans tune in to NPR at least once a week and about 36 million watch their local PBS station each month, according to estimates from the outlets.

The Republican congresswoman from Georgia went on to say NPR and PBS have grown to become "radical left-wing echo chambers for a narrow audience of mostly wealthy, white, urban liberals and progressives."

The critiques drew fierce blowback from Democrats, including Representative Jasmine Crockett from Texas, who said Greene wants "to shut down everybody that is not Fox News," a broadcaster preferred by many conservatives.

NPR chief executive Katherine Maher estimated the radio station received $120 million from the CPB in 2025, "less than five percent" of its budget.

Brian Jack, another Republican representative from Georgia, asked Maher if NPR could survive without the funding.

"It would be incredibly damaging to the national radios system," Maher said. "If federal funding for our network goes away, it means that people in rural parts of America would be harmed."

Democrat Stephen Lynch was also critical of the way Republicans led the hearing, saying it should be "talking about the security breach that occurred recently," in reference to the leaked Signal group chat among US government security officials.

"Today the controlling House majority is afraid to do its job, it is afraid to hold Trump and Trump's administration accountable," Lynch said.

I.Widmer--NZN