Kari Lake, a senior advisor to US President Donald Trump, announced Thursday that she is taking steps to cancel long-standing contracts between international news agencies like Agence France-Presse (AFP), Reuters, and The Associated Press, and the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
Lake, a former journalist and staunch Trump supporter, posted on social media saying, “We should not be paying outside news companies to tell us what the news is.” She further emphasised that the US government should not fund external news agencies, suggesting that American taxpayers should be aware of any costs involved in foreign news services.
Lake, who joined USAGM last month as a special advisor, oversees agencies such as Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia, which provide news and combat censorship abroad. She described the cancellation of contracts with AFP, Reuters, and AP as a move to cut “expensive and unnecessary” expenses. “We should be producing news ourselves,” Lake added.
This move aligns with Trump’s broader push to reform US government-funded media organisations. Earlier, his advisor Elon Musk advocated for the shutdown of VOA and Radio Free Europe, calling them wasteful of taxpayer money. Lake, appointed to head VOA in December, is awaiting confirmation for the position.
