Voice of America goes silent as Trump signs executive order gutting network’s parent agency

President Trump signed an executive order over the weekend gutting the federal agency that oversees the Voice of America, the news outlet that for more than 80 years broadcast news and information into countries where independent reporting is restricted or censored.

Hours after Trump signed an executive order Friday directing the elimination of the US Agency for Global Media, numerous journalists, executives and staff at the organization’s Washington headquarters were notified that they were being placed on paid leave, according to National Public Radio.

The White House on Saturday put out a press release titled “The Voice of Radical America,” which cited several claims accusing VOA of displaying “a leftist bias aligned with partisan national media.”

Staff members reported promptly losing access to their work emails and internal communication systems.

Over 1,000 full-time employees from Voice of America and the Office for Cuba Broadcasting, which operates Radio and Television Martí, were impacted.

As of Saturday, VOA radio broadcasts heard in Asia and the Middle East either went silent or aired just music, according to the New York Times.

The White House defended the decision by pointing to past criticisms of VOA’s reporting, which had been described as propaganda, arguing that government-funded media organizations like VOA are no longer relevant.

Echoing this viewpoint, Elon Musk, the Tesla chief who runs the Department of Government Efficiency, said of VOA: “Nobody listens to them anymore.”

A White House “rapid response” account on X cited two stories as justification for why “US taxpayers shouldn’t be funding” the VOA, including one with a headline detailing how VOA told its reporters not to refer to Hamas as “terrorists.”

The other story was a headline from a VOA article titled: “What is ‘White Privilege’ and Whom Does it Help?”

Kari Lake, the former newscaster-turned-politician who twice ran unsuccessfully for office in Arizona as a Republican, was appointed by Trump to oversee VOA. She recently described its parent organization, USAGM, as beyond reform.

VOA, which is based in Washington, DC, traditionally produces news programs that reach millions globally via a network of affiliates.

Furthermore, many international stations that previously relied on VOA content will continue airing without any input from US-based journalists.

Some of these networks began carrying news from state-controlled media from countries such as Russia and China — nations whose narratives VOA had historically counterbalanced.

“They have pulled the plug operationally,” David Z. Seide, an attorney with the Government Accountability Project who represents several VOA journalists, told the Times.

Seide is weighing potential legal action to restore the affected employees.

Echoing this sentiment, the American Foreign Service Association pledged “a vigorous defense” of its VOA members.

VOA began broadcasting in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and continued through the Cold War as a vital tool against Soviet disinformation.

Until this abrupt interruption, VOA reached hundreds of millions of listeners worldwide, including in repressive regimes such as Iran and China.

VOA’s charter explicitly protects its editorial independence, mandating balanced reporting free from political interference.

“To effectively shutter the Voice of America is to dim a beacon that burned bright during some of the darkest hours since 1942,” VOA correspondent Steven Herman, who was placed on administrative leave earlier this month over an X post deemed to be critical of Trump, wrote on social media.

The shutdown also affects sister networks such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and others serving over 420 million people weekly.

Steve Capus, president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said ending their grants would be “a massive gift to America’s enemies.”

This move has drawn criticism from Trump’s own party.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), former Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, emphasized the networks’ critical role in countering foreign propaganda, especially in authoritarian regimes.

“That’s why I strongly support many of its programs,” McCaul told NPR.

“Programs like [Radio Free Asia] provide day-to-day updates on far-off regions, uphold a free press even in authoritarian countries, and ensure Americans — and people everywhere — are not subject to our adversaries’ propaganda.”