VOICE OF AMERICA’S CIA ROOTS

Donald Trump has turned off the money tap to the US State Department-funded Voice of America (VOA). VOA’s parent organisation, the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), was among the organisations targeted by his 14 March executive order, under which the work of targeted entities “shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

The decision has seen 1,300 VOA employees placed on administrative leave, while 500 contractors have been axed permanently. A statement from the White House press office said the move is to ensure that “taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.”

We are neither fans of Trump nor agree with his politics. However, we agree with him that VOA is indeed a radical propaganda outlet that has been spreading falsehoods across the world for decades.

In 2024, we joined the list of victims of VOA smear campaigns when, without any evidence, it accused us of the exact same thing Trump is accusing it of: spreading state-funded propaganda.

A few days later, again without providing any evidence, then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken parroted VOA's baseless accusations. This led to social-media giants such as Meta, Google, and TikTok banning us.

We wait to see if they will now take a similar step against the VOA, given that the current White House says that it is a state-funded propaganda outlet. (And while they’re at it, they can reverse our bans - as these were based on VOA’s false claims!)

In this September 2024 video, produced in reaction to VOA's unfounded allegations against African Stream, we discuss why the outlet is nothing more than a propaganda machine.

Sources

https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/the-voice-of-radical-america/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-signs-order-to-cut-staff-at-voice-of-america-media/

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-signs-order-gut-voice-america-other-federal-agencies-rcna196564

https://www.usagm.gov/2025/03/15/u-s-agency-for-global-media-complies-with-presidential-executive-order-to-reduce-the-federal-bureaucracy/