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Voice of America and Radio Free Asia on the chopping block as executive order states grants will be ‘eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law’
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President Donald Trump has indicated that the next agencies to be cut down include the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which is in charge of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, as well as the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
In an executive order signed late on Friday, Trump eviscerated a number of smaller offices and agencies that do everything from battling homelessness to funding libraries.
The order stated that the agencies and offices will see their federal grants reviewed. The grants will be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
Trump has criticized Voice of America since his first term in office. The U.S. Agency for Global Media also manages Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, with supporters arguing that Radio Free Asia has been a significant tool to fight Chinese propaganda.
This comes after a Trump-backed government spending bill passed the Senate on Friday evening, hours before a midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown.
House Democrats demanded their Senate colleagues reject the measure, which was supported by Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and only a handful of Senate Democrats.
The United States has expelled South Africa’s ambassador, after accusing him of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates America and President Donald Trump.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the envoy was “no longer welcome in our great country.”
“Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”
Mr Rubio re-posted an article from the right-wing website Breitbart that quoted the envoy saying in a webinar that Trump was leading a white “supremacist” movement.
Bryony Gooch has the story:
Protesters gathered outside a Tesla dealership in London have called for people to boycott the Elon Musk owned electric car maker.
Organisers are encouraging Tesla owners to sell their cars and for people to dump stock.
The electric car giant has already seen shares plunge since the start of the year as the firm comes under pressure from Chinese rivals amid calls for a boycott over Musk’s close ties with US President Donald Trump and far-right causes.
George Lithgow has the story:
Donald Trump’s Oval Office attack on Ukraine’s president last month appeared to mark a very public realignment of America’s sympathies – away from Europe and towards Russia in a manner that few could have imagined during the Cold War years.
The Republican Party, now dominated by Trump’s “America First” MAGA movement, once considered the former Soviet Union “the evil empire” under Ronald Reagan and relished its collapse.
Today, the GOP stands accused of parroting Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric and some even refuse to admit the plain fact that Moscow began the war by invading its neighbor.
Joe Sommerlad has more:
An agent honored by Donald Trump during his address to Congress in 2019 was one of the officers who arrested Mahmoud Khalil in New York City, according to attorneys for the Columbia University student and lawful permanent resident who is now facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestine campus protests.
When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took Khalil’s biometrics after his arrest, an agent said “the White House is requesting an update,” lawyers wrote in a court filing in Manhattan on Thursday.
More details from Khalil’s arrest and detention in the latest court filings:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is reportedly already $2 billion short to keep up its current pace of operations through the end of this fiscal year, as it races to keep up with the Trump administration’s promises to rapidly deport millions of undocumented migrants.
Josh Marcus reports:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has moved to shutter the Pentagon office that helped military leaders plan for possible future wars.
A memo signed by Hegseth dated March 13 reportedly said that civil employees in the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment will be reassigned to other “mission critical positions” as it is dismantled. The office is often referred to as the Pentagon’s internal think tank.
After reports of the memo were published, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell issued a statement about the “restructuring.”
Rhian Lubin reports:
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina is being sued for defamation by one of the four men she publicly accused of sexual abuse in a speech she made on the floor of the House of Representatives last month.
Ariana Baio reports:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is seeking to expel South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. Ebrahim Rasool after the official criticized Donald Trump during a forum on Thursday.
Josh Marcus reports:
Arlington National Cemetery has purged dozens of pages of information about famous Black, Hispanic and female veterans from its website to comply with Donald Trump’s executive order purging diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government.
Rhian Lubin reports:
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