Announcing millions of dollars of cuts to online subscriptions, the Trump administration's press secretary repeated misleading statements used to justify the dismantling of the US government's international aid and development agency.
The White House has said it is cancelling millions of dollars in subscriptions to online news outlet Politico, part of a sweeping programme of cuts that has seen tech entrepreneur Elon Musk given the opportunity to gut government payrolls and budgets — and even to effectively shut down entire US agencies.
The announcement came from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told a press conference on Wednesday that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had spent $8m ($7.72m) on subscriptions to the outlet's Politico Pro output, and that the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) intended to cancel them.
"I was made aware of the funding from USAID to media outlets, including Politico, who I know has a seat in this room," Leavitt told the assembled White House press corps. And I can confirm the more than eight million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidising subscriptions to Politico will no longer be happening. The DOGE team is working on cancelling those payments now."
Leavitt's announcement was one of several misleading reports that inaccurately stated both the source and purpose of the spending. In fact, several US agencies have collectively spent money subscribing to Politico...
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