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The Trump administration has accused the two broadcasters of using public funds to produce biased coverage and “left-wing propaganda.”
May 2, 2025Updated 5:33 a.m. ET
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to cut federal funding for NPR and PBS, accusing the outlets of producing biased coverage and “left-wing propaganda.”
Mr. Trump instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds public broadcasters in the United States, to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, to the extent allowed by law. The outlets receive only a small portion of their funding from Congress, with the rest coming from donors and sponsors.
The immediate impact of the order was unclear. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a taxpayer-backed, private entity created by an act of Congress, is funded two years in advance to protect it from political maneuvering.
The executive order was the latest move by the Trump administration against what it described as biased public media. The White House released a document accompanying the order on its website, criticizing the two broadcasters’ coverage of, among other topics, the Covid-19 pandemic and Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Mr. Trump ordered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and all federal agencies to also cut indirect funding by forbidding public radio and television broadcasters that receive federal funds from using that money for PBS or NPR programs.
The chief executives of NPR and PBS testified before Congress in March, a heated hearing in which Republicans assailed them for what they described as liberal bias.
