American taxpayers are no longer subsidizing foreign media once funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), prompting leftwing concern over the potential impact on global journalism and “democracy.”
President Donald Trump put a 90 day hold on all USAID’s foreign aid this week, which subsequently cut $268 million from media outlets in more than 30 countries, according to the agency’s 2025 foreign aid budget reported by Reporters Without Borders (RWB).USAID’s 2023 fact sheet, taken offline due to the hold, boasted the agency supported 6,200 journalists, 707 news outlets, 279 media-sector civil society organizations, the Columbia Journalism Review reported.
“We have articles scheduled until the end of January, but after that, if we haven’t found solutions, we won’t be able to publish anymore,” a journalist from a Belarusian reporter told RWB.
Anna Babinets, CEO of a media outlet based in Kyiv, echoed the Belarusian. “At Slidstvo.Info, 80% of our budget is affected,” she said.
As the savings enraged foreign media, it caused great concern among Democrats, who claim USAID’s work is imperative.