Trump’s silencing of Voice of America sparks shock, outrage

President Trump’s decision to gut the government agency that oversees Voice of America (VOA) has shocked staffers, who have been ordered to stop working, and fueled concern about the U.S. retreating as a champion of press freedom worldwide.

The president over the weekend signed an executive order that aimed to essentially eliminate seven federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), a federal body that governs VOA and several other networks around the world, like Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.

Employees who spoke with The Hill this week described a chaotic span of 48 hours after employees received an email Saturday telling them to cease all reporting until further notice.

Reporters, editors and producers were told they had been placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as a result of Trump’s order, and they immediately lost access to work technology systems, reporting tools and VOA’s offices in downtown Washington, D.C. 

“Everyone was shocked,” one VOA staffer told The Hill, noting the outlet has employees, freelancers and contract workers on several continents around the world. “It’s like the United Nations of emotional distress over here.”

Employees at VOA had not been told as of Tuesday how long they will remain on leave or received any indication of what the long-term fate of the network’s vast global reporting infrastructure will be.

Many of VOA’s correspondents report from war-torn regions and authoritarian regimes where independent media is stifled or nonexistent. 

“Dictators around the world are celebrating this and laughing at us,” another VOA staffer told The Hill. “Everyone is just so sad because so many of us have dedicated our lives to spreading the truth in places where no light shines.”

Voice of America has for decades been a symbol of free speech and a key channel to communicate American ideals of transparency and democracy around the world.

“When a VOA reporter asks if this was a free and fair election, because they are American and can get away with it, it opens the door for other local journalists to do the same,” one reporter who worked for years in Africa said. 

The abrupt move to shutter VOA has shocked its rank and file, but signs of massive change at the agency have been evident for weeks.   

Trump late last year tapped firebrand conservative and former TV news anchor Kari Lake to lead the agency, and she has been acting as a senior adviser to the agency. 

Lake publicly backed Trump’s executive order over the weekend and vowed to help him root out “waste, fraud and abuse” at VOA. 

Lake had previously dismissed suggestions the outlet would be turned into “Trump TV” under her, but she has also signaled she would like to see VOA produce content and coverage that is more in line with Trump’s messaging. 

“Unfortunately, the product is not pro-America at all,” Lake said during a recent interview with fellow Trump loyalist and media personality Steve Bannon. Lake also alleged the broadcast network was spending money “recklessly” and changes to how it operates are needed.

Originally created by the U.S. government after World War II as platform to spread Western messaging during the Cold War, Voice of America in more recent years has provided news and information in nearly 50 languages to an estimated weekly audience of more than 354 million people.

Pen America, a leading press freedom group, in a statement to The Hill called the administration’s move to essentially shut down VOA “a devastating loss for global truth and democracy” and called on Congress to protect the outlet.

“These networks provide independent news and cultural programming into closed societies where press freedom is under siege,” the organization said.

David Kligerman, who formerly worked as the chief legal officer and general counsel of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, argued Trump’s move could be on shaky legal ground.

“To destroy this reliable source of vital information overnight is not only unprecedented, it is also unlawful — as is the shuttering of the agency and placement of all of its employees on administrative leave,” Kligerman said. 

“This move grants President Trump’s loyalists free reign to invest $700m a year in broadcasters aligned with political agendas rather than essential information needed in closed countries and beyond.”

Late Tuesday, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty sued Lake and the Trump administration in federal court in Washington, D.C., arguing in court filings it had undermined Congress’s power of the purse. 

Reporters Without Borders, which advocates for the rights of journalists around the world, estimates there are currently more than a half dozen USAGM reporters imprisoned overseas for their work for the outlet, calling the administration’s move a “betrayal.”

The White House did not respond a request for comment nor did a representative for VOA.

The agency’s director, Michael Abramowitz, during an interview with CBS News this week called the decision to shutter VOA a “self-inflicted blow” to U.S. national security interests.

“If America pulls off the playing field and cedes it to our adversaries, then they’re going to be telling the narratives that people around the world are going to be hearing, and that can’t be good for America,” Abramowitz said. “They’re going to be hearing an anti-America narrative. We need to fight that.”

Updated: 6:22 p.m.