In a bold move that’s been decades in the making, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order late Thursday cutting off federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), two outlets long viewed by conservatives as taxpayer-funded mouthpieces for the Left.
The decision comes amid growing calls from Republicans and conservative voters to stop forcing taxpayers to bankroll networks that consistently push progressive narratives under the guise of public service journalism.
“Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence,” President Trump declared in the order. He added that taxpayer dollars should never support “biased and partisan news coverage.”
Under the directive, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)—which acts as the financial middleman for NPR and PBS—has until June 30 to end direct and indirect federal funding to both networks. This includes preventing local stations and third-party recipients of CPB funds from redirecting those resources back to NPR or PBS.
The move will affect hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. The CPB is slated to receive \$535 million in congressional appropriations over the next two years, a sizable chunk of which trickles down to these so-called “public” broadcasters. Yet for all that money, Americans get media content that, more often than not, aligns with progressive ideals and Democratic Party talking points.
And the data doesn’t lie. According to NPR’s own figures, about 10% of funding for their stations comes from the CPB. PBS and its affiliates receive roughly 15%. While NPR receives just 1% of its budget directly from federal sources, that sliver still gives the network an air of legitimacy and stability many conservative outlets can only dream of—despite doing far more to represent everyday Americans.
The White House’s fact sheet accompanying the executive order didn’t mince words. It described NPR and PBS’s programming as “significant in-kind contributions to the Democrat party,” violating CPB’s legal mandate to remain politically neutral. “It’s not about which side they take,” the statement read. “It’s about the fact that they don’t present the news fairly at all.”
This isn’t Trump’s first swipe at public broadcasting. In a March 27 Truth Social post, he slammed NPR and PBS as “horrible and completely biased platforms” that should be “DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY.” Now, as president, he’s following through—cutting off the flow of taxpayer money with surgical precision.
The executive order goes even further, instructing all federal agencies to identify and eliminate any additional financial support flowing to the networks. In a nod to fairness and civil rights, Trump also tapped HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to investigate whether the networks are complying with anti-discrimination laws in their hiring practices.
“No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies,” Trump wrote. “Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, and nonpartisan news coverage.”
For millions of Americans sick and tired of footing the bill for woke programming and partisan spin, this isn’t just an executive order—it’s a long-overdue course correction.
