OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:54 PM – Wednesday, February 5, 2025
The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, revealed that the federal government has been subsidizing the left-wing outlet Politico — to the tune of $8.2 million.
Politico was acquired in 2021 by Axel Springer SE, a German news publisher and media company.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed that the federal government was “essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the taxpayer’s dime.”
“The DOGE is working on cancelling those payments now,” she continued. “This is a government effort to ensure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government’s books. And this President and his team are making decisions across the board on [whether or not these] receipts serve the interests of the American people.”
The outlet received at least $44,000 from USAID last year as well, though it was also given millions from various federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services — which provided $1.37 million.
In addition, $1.35 million was paid out from the Department of the Interior, according to the USASPENDING website.
Meanwhile, social media users on Politico‘s official Instagram page and on X responded to the news.
“Not just a waste, but they’ve essentially been getting paid by Democrats to feed the American people endless lies, misinformation and propaganda. If you’re wondering why the media always gave the Biden admin a pass, deflected, ran cover for and loves democrats, this is why,” said one user on X.
In addition to Politico, AP News has been accused of raking in U.S. taxpayer money as well. However, this has not yet been confirmed.
Trump and Musk have recently vowed to cut funds from USAID, a $40 billion agency that has been accused of money laundering, working in tandem with Democrat officials, their allies, and other connected organizations.
Much of the U.S. federal funds were spent on Politico Pro, which costs around $10,000 per year, offering “non-partisan, real-time intelligence personalized to their area of policy focus.”
“POLITICO Pro is an all-inclusive platform that empowers public policy professionals with the tools, news, analysis, and other resources needed to succeed in an increasingly complex political world. Our features include exclusive and unbiased policy news coverage in real-time, in-depth policy analysis and a suite of tracking tools to help you keep tabs on policy developments as they happen…” the website states.
Musk soon responded to the report, declaring that the U.S. government will no longer be supplying the outlet with federal funding any longer.
“This is obviously a huge waste of taxpayer money!” Musk wrote in an X post.
Politico has notably been an anti-Trump outlet throughout his previous time in office and now, publishing themes related to how the Hunter Biden laptop scandal had all the “hallmarks” of “Russian disinformation,” conveniently siding with the Biden administration. The outlet also recently posted an infographic on its Instagram page titled “Could Trump seize a third term? – Actually, it’s not out of the question.”
Musk’s latest call to end the funding of Politico is another piece of the larger effort to root out corruption and waste from federal spending, while suggesting that the IRS is next on the list to receive an audit.
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