President Donald Trump issued an executive order late Thursday night that directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to halt federal funding to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), citing what he described as their “biased and partisan news coverage.” The directive instructs the CPB to “cease federal funding for NPR and PBS” as far as legally possible. Legal experts suggest the order could face challenges in court.
According to a White House statement released on Friday, both NPR and PBS have received “tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.'” The administration argued that public funding is no longer justifiable in the modern media environment.
The executive order notes, “Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options. Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
Trump and several of his allies, including billionaire Elon Musk, have repeatedly accused NPR and PBS of pushing left-leaning narratives. Executives from both organizations have consistently rejected these accusations. Just last month, Trump demanded their defunding on Truth Social, calling them “RADICAL LEFT ‘MONSTERS’ THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY!”
NPR and PBS receive approximately $500 million annually in public funding, although NPR claims that less than 1% of its budget actually comes from federal sources. The remainder is largely generated through sponsorships and donations.
Despite this relatively small portion of public funding, Trump contended in his executive order that the CPB had failed to uphold its mandate of fairness and impartiality. “Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens,” Trump stated.
The White House also listed a number of reports it considered examples of bias and sensationalism in NPR and PBS coverage. These included stories about transgender issues and NPR’s retraction for previously using the term “illegal” to describe undocumented immigrants, aligning with The Associated Press’s language standards.
NBC News reached out to NPR for a response, but the organization did not provide a comment immediately.
In response to the executive order, Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS, issued a strong statement on Friday criticizing the move. “The President’s blatantly unlawful Executive Order, issued in the middle of the night, threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years. We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans,” she said.
Patricia Harrison, who leads the CPB, emphasized the organization’s independence from presidential authority. “CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority. Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government,” Harrison explained.
She added that Congress had intentionally structured the CPB to prevent any governmental oversight. “When Congress created the CPB, it forbade any government agency or official from directing, supervising, or controlling it,” Harrison stated.
Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, also expressed serious concerns. In her Friday statement, she said, “This order defies the will of the American people and would devastate the public safety, educational and local service missions of public media — services that the American public values, trusts and relies on every day.”
Riley highlighted the critical role of local stations, particularly in underserved communities. “More than 160 local TV stations across the country, particularly those in rural areas, offer a lifeline in hundreds of communities where there is no other source of local media,” she added.
Last month, NPR had already voiced alarm over a draft memo sent to Congress that proposed similar funding cuts. In a statement at the time, an NPR spokesperson warned, “Eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would have a devastating impact on American communities across the nation that rely on public radio for trusted local and national news, culture, lifesaving emergency alerts, and public safety information.”
Kerger, in an earlier statement, emphasized the importance of bipartisan support for public media. She said, “There’s nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress.” She added that defunding PBS would “disrupt the essential service PBS and local member stations provide to the American people.”
In a related development, three CPB board members were dismissed via email earlier this week, leaving only two members in place. The removed members have filed a lawsuit, although their lawyers failed to demonstrate any immediate, irreparable harm to either the individuals or the organization. As a result, a judge mandated that the Trump administration must provide at least 48 hours’ notice before installing acting or interim replacements. Official CPB board appointments require presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.
The Committee to Protect Journalists weighed in on Wednesday with a report criticizing Trump’s broader approach to media. The report stated that Trump’s executive actions during his initial 100 days in office had a “chilling effect and have the potential to curtail media freedoms.” It pointed specifically to restrictions on press access to the president and renewed investigations by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into media organizations, including NBC News.
A former NPR editor, Uri Berliner, also made headlines last year when he resigned and penned an op-ed for a conservative outlet criticizing NPR’s ideological stance and lack of political diversity. Despite his critiques, Berliner clarified he did not support efforts to defund NPR.
The Trump administration has previously taken steps that opponents view as hostile to the press. Journalists have been barred from Oval Office briefings, and reporters have been removed from designated media workspaces at the Pentagon. These actions have sparked concern among media watchdogs and civil rights groups, who argue the moves reflect a pattern of undermining press freedom.
As legal and legislative battles over the executive order unfold, the future of public broadcasting remains uncertain. But for now, NPR, PBS, and the CPB are vowing to resist what they view as an overreach of presidential authority and a threat to independent journalism.