On Thursday, President Donald Trump took a step conservatives had been hoping for through many presidencies, issuing an executive order to end the taxpayer subsidization of National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

The directive instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s board of directors to “cease federal funding” to both outlets.

In mid-April, the White House released a report delineating its grievances with the two nonprofit public broadcasting organizations, suggesting eliminating taxpayer funding for them.

“For years, American taxpayers have been on the hook for subsidizing National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news,’” the report stated.

For years, Americans have been on the hook for subsidizing NPR and PBS as they spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as “news.”

As @POTUS has said, funding their biased content is a waste.

🧵 Here are some examples of the trash that passes for “news” at NPR and PBS: pic.twitter.com/7xlZOKGay1

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 14, 2025

Trump’s executive order states: “Unlike in 1967, when the CPB [Corporation of Public Broadcasting] was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options. Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence. At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage. No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize.”

“The CPB’s governing statute reflects principles of impartiality: the CPB may not ‘contribute to or otherwise support any political party,’” the order continues. “The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS.  Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens. I therefore instruct the CPB Board of Directors (CPB Board) and all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS.”

In 2021, Katherine Maher, who had just left her position as CEO and executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation and later became the CEO of NPR, said at a TED talk, “Seeking the truth and seeking to convince others of the truth might not be the right place to start. In fact, our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done.  I think our reverence for the truth might have become a bit of a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting things done.”

“I think our reverence for the truth might have become a bit of a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting important things done.”

— Katherine Maher (NPR CEO)
pic.twitter.com/nCfDcyPbtH

— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) November 12, 2024

In April 2024, former NPR Editor Uri Berliner published an essay in which he admitted, “An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America. … At NPR, we hitched our wagon to Trump’s most visible antagonist, Representative Adam Schiff.” He continued:

By my count, NPR hosts interviewed Schiff 25 times about Trump and Russia. During many of those conversations, Schiff alluded to purported evidence of collusion. The Schiff talking points became the drumbeat of NPR news reports. But when the Mueller report found no credible evidence of collusion, NPR’s coverage was notably sparse. Russiagate quietly faded from our programming. …

In October 2020, the New York Post published the explosive report about the laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer shop containing emails about his sordid business dealings. With the election only weeks away, NPR turned a blind eye. 

Berliner wrote of former NPR CEO John Lansing’s attitude in the wake of the death of George Floyd: “In confessional language he said the leaders of public media, ‘starting with me—must be aware of how we ourselves have benefited from white privilege in our careers. We must understand the unconscious bias we bring to our work and interactions.’ … He declared that diversity—on our staff and in our audience—was the overriding mission, the ‘North Star’ of the organization. … Race and identity became paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”

He concluded, “What’s notable is the extent to which people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview. And this, I believe, is the most damaging development at NPR: the absence of viewpoint diversity.”