Gutted Voice of America and International Broadcasting
Trump placed 1,300 VOA journalists on leave and terminated Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Marti — networks that beam independent news into authoritarian countries, reaching 427 million people.
In March 2025, the Trump administration placed nearly all 1,300 Voice of America journalists on administrative leave and terminated funding for Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Marti — independent broadcast networks that had beamed news into authoritarian countries for decades.
These networks reached a combined audience of 427 million people in countries where independent journalism is suppressed or banned — China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and others. They had been a cornerstone of American soft power since the Cold War.
The consequences were swift:
- Radio Free Asia halted news operations entirely by October 2025
- A federal judge temporarily blocked some cuts in April 2025, but the damage was largely done
- China and Russia moved to fill the information vacuum left by the shuttered networks
- By 2026, the outlets were described as "shadows of their former selves"
The destruction of America's international broadcasting infrastructure — built over decades to counter authoritarian propaganda — was a gift to every dictator who feared independent journalism reaching their citizens.