President Donald Trump lambasted Politico on Thursday, a day after it was revealed the politics-focused news outlet had received more than $8 million in government funding for subscriptions and other contracts.
The president said Politico — which he called a “left wing ‘rag’” — was part of a larger “fake news” scam that had “stolen” money from agencies like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“LOOKS LIKE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN STOLLEN AT USAID, AND OTHER AGENCIES, MUCH OF IT GOING TO THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA AS A ‘PAYOFF’ FOR CREATING GOOD STORIES ABOUT THE DEMOCRATS,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “THE LEFT WING ‘RAG,’ KNOWN AS “POLITICO,” SEEMS TO HAVE RECEIVED $8,000,000. Did the New York Times receive money??? Who else did???”
The president added “THIS COULD BE THE BIGGEST SCANDAL OF THEM ALL, PERHAPS THE BIGGEST IN HISTORY! THE DEMOCRATS CAN’T HIDE FROM THIS ONE. TOO BIG, TOO DIRTY!”
His post came just hours after he said CBS News’ editing of a Kamala Harris interview on “60 Minutes” was the “biggest broadcasting scandal in history.”
Politico was at the center of a media firestorm on Wednesday, after a viral X post showed the outlet had received $8.2 million in taxpayer support. This included several contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for website subscriptions, according to USASpending.gov. Altogether, the government website showed 237 transactions tied to Politico.
Soon afterwards, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Politico would not receive another dime of taxpayer money. Leavitt on Wednesday said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by Elon Musk, would handle ending Politico’s payments.
Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and editor-in-chief John Harris, in a memo to staff obtained by Fox News, said the outlet was paid for Politico Pro, a subscription service that provides legislative tracking tools, news and analysis and access to exclusive events.
Sheikholeslami and Harris said Politico “has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies — not one cent, ever, in 18 years” in their memo. Politico Pro, they said, “provides both private and public sector clients with granular, fact-based reporting, real-time intelligence and tracking tools across key policy areas.”
They added: “We are proud of the value our Politico Pro platform and policy journalism gives to all subscribers. As a practical matter, the overwhelming majority of our professional subscriptions under Politico Pro are in the private sector.”
Politico is not the only news site to receive government funds in recent years. The Associated Press, according to USASpending.gov, has $619,968 worth of government funding, and Reuters is slated to receive $3.1 million. And with regards to the president’s question about how much funding The New York Times has received, it has been awarded $378,266, according to USASpending.gov.
