On the Shutdown of VOA and the USGM

A Unilateral Concession to America’s Adversaries

The Trump Administration has shuttered the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USGM). With this decision, Voice of America (VOA) has ceased production and grant funding for other USGM operations, like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and VOA Asia, thereby ending decades of democracy promotion and America’s ability to build influence. Over 1,300 employees were put on leave when VOA director Kari Lake described the organization as “a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer” and “not salvageable.”

Voice of America first began broadcasting in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda and misinformation. At the time, FDR’s administration understood that the arsenal of democracy extended beyond guns and munitions and needed to include a robust media and broadcasting apparatus that could cut through the falsehoods and distortions propagated by our enemies. The United States’ industrial and military might was coupled with a commitment to promote America’s values and defend truth and democracy. With this combination, we defeated the Axis Powers and liberated Europe.

For decades afterward, VOA’s Russian service provided millions of Soviet citizens a glimpse of life beyond the Iron Curtain and suffocating Communist rule. In the information age, VOA was on the frontlines of America’s fight against disinformation and misinformation and was an essential tool of public diplomacy in a rapidly changing world. Now, without the VOA and affiliated programming from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the United States will be unable to contest false narratives about American foreign policy, and thereby unprepared to face the challenges of adversarial information operations.

This is a disaster for America and a gift to our enemies.

The budget cuts directed at VOA and RFE/RL have nothing to do with “efficiency” or government spending. They are based entirely on ideological interests. On some level, the Trump administration believes that these services are at odds with their “America First” agenda, despite the media actually being aligned to the interests of the United States and completely within oversight by the federal government. On multiple occasions over the past two months, Elon’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” has unknowingly cut grant funding and terminated employment contracts for crucial functions within government. The justification given for these actions has ranged from “it looked suspicious” or “we didn’t know what it was,” to “it sounded woke.”

Clearly, little consideration was given toward the role VOA plays in foreign policy and what its absence will mean for the United States and the world as a whole. It’s likely that Trump—or someone in his inner circle—realized that the VOA or RFE/RL are willing to be critical of the Trump administration and the decisions it makes. And they are entitled to voice this criticism, thanks to the First Amendment. Unlike Moscow’s relationship with RT, the president of the United States doesn’t dictate the headlines and news published by VOA.

The closure of VOA and RFE/RL has undoubtedly led to celebrations in Tehran and Moscow. In addition to providing native language programming within countries with adversarial relationships to the United States, these networks were lifelines of funding and support for journalists operating in repressive regimes. These stations often represented the only truly free press. In Russia, journalists have been labeled "foreign agents,” while activists have been arrested and investigated for the loosest affiliation to these networks, all due to the threats posed by a truly free press to an authoritarian regime.

Now that we’ve willingly pulled back our support for a free press abroad, China, Iran, and Russia will feel emboldened enough to ramp up their existing information operations targeting the United States and American voters. Most concerningly, the decision to pull funding for USGM has extinguished one of the few forces capable of nurturing democracy across the globe. Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, and Voice of America not only gave platforms to marginalized voices battling dictatorships and repressive regimes—they also organized workshops, lectures, and taught the tradecraft of journalism in otherwise intolerant countries. The press has always been the enemy of authoritarian regimes. The quiet end of the USGM is a win for the world’s worst dictators.

We should also take a step back and examine what this decision says about the current administration and the immediate future of American foreign policy. Like many of the choices they’ve already made, the decision to shutter the USGM represents a willingness to sacrifice America’s global standing in pursuit of petty grudges. VOA has previously been the target of Trump’s ire, e.g. during his first administration, and has always been comfortable asking members of his administration candid, difficult questions. In pursuing his petty grievance, Trump has unilaterally disarmed the United States against adversaries like China yet has sacrificed a vehicle for soft power and the spreading of norms that took decades to build. The absence of VOA, much like The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), leaves a vacuum for our adversaries to fill with lies and their own soft power and influence, which will be detrimental to U.S. interests. The effects of this decision will be felt long after Trump leaves office.

At the time of writing, VOA employees are turning to legal actions to prevent their termination and retain funding. While the future of the VOA looks dim under Trump, some version of it will be revived to effectively compete in the information environment with Russia, China, Iran, and other bad actors engaged in spreading anti-U.S. propaganda and deceiving their populations. Shuttering VOA amounts to a unilateral disarmament in the information space. As such, it accelerates the disturbing trend of democratic ideals and ideas losing out to illiberalism, authoritarians, and dictatorships. The next administration will need to not only revive VOA but to expand its resources to win back an information war that will no doubt be heavily tilted in our adversaries’ favor.