President Donald J. Trump has taken aim at NPR and PBS, seeking to cut off Congress-approved funding for the radio and television networks with an executive order issued last week and removing funding for the groups in his executive budget plan.
Arguing that it’s inappropriate for taxpayer money to flow to news organizations, and contending that both NPR and PBS are biased organizations that aren’t committed to fairness and fact in their work, Trump said in his executive order that his office maintains the power to cut off the flow of federal dollars, through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to the networks either directly or indirectly.