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Trump Guts Voice Of America News Agency, Musk Says “Nobody listens to them anymore.”
Voice of America staff were locked out of their offices on Saturday—unable to complete planned reporting—after President Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the government-run news agency that the White House has referred to as “radical propaganda.”
VOA was founded in 1942 in part to counter Nazi propaganda.
The move impacts all full-time staffers at the VOA and the Office for Cuba Broadcasting, which runs Radio and Television Martíore, and is poised to have a devastating effect on practically all operations under the United States Agency for Global Media—the parent entity of VOA and the department targeted by Trump’s Friday evening order.
According to the agency, which is fully funded by federal dollars, broadcasters and their sister networks reach 420 million people in 63 languages and more than 100 countries each week, “often in some of the world’s most restrictive media environments.”
“I am deeply saddened that for the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” VOA director Michael Abramowitz wrote in a LinkedIn post. He shared that his entire staff of 1,300 journalists, producers, and assistants had been put on administrative leave, including himself. “Even if the agency survives in some form, the actions being taken today by the Administration will severely damage Voice of America’s ability to foster a world that is safe and free and in doing so is failing to protect U.S. interests,” he said.
A statement released by the White House following the executive order details news coverage by VOA as justification for the defunding, including an article defining white privilege after the murder of George Floyd, a story about whether Russia perpetuated allegations against Hunter Biden to benefit Trump, and a segment on LGBT migrants.
“It’s a relic of the past,” Ric Grenell, Trump’s special envoy for special missions, wrote on X in February. “We don’t need government-paid media outlets.” Trump’s billionaire donor and Department of Government Efficiency advisor Elon Musk wrote on his social media platform: “Yes, shut them down … Nobody listens to them anymore.”
The order, entitled “Continuing the Reduction Of The Federal Bureaucracy,” called for multiple other departments to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the Minority Business Development Agency.
In December, Trump announced that Republican Kari Lake, a former news anchor who ran twice for office in Arizona on a MAGA platform and lost both times, was his pick to serve as director of Voice of America—though that didn’t happen. A couple of months later, Trump named her a senior adviser to the USAGM.
On Saturday morning, Lake took to X, shared a link to the executive order, and told employees to check their emails—where they would find news of being terminated.
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BBC Verify Live: Fact-checking Trump’s unusual new White House presidential plaques
Videos show rebels on the move in eastern DRC city Uvirapublished at 12:49 GMT
Peter Mwai
BBC Verify senior journalist
We have verified video showing fighters belonging to the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group on the move in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after M23 announced a withdrawal from the city of Uvira in South Kivu province which it seized a week ago.
The M23 had taken contorl of Uvira despite a ceasefire deal agreed between the governments of Rwanda and DRC and had come under increasing diplomatic pressure to withdraw its forces from the city.
The DRC government has reacted with scepticism, with a spokesperson asking on XL “Where are they going? How many were there? What are they leaving behind in the city? Mass graves? Soldiers disguised as civilians?”
We can’t tell where they are heading, but in the footage we have verified the fighters, together with vehicles, move north past the Uvira police headquarters.
We confirmed where the clips were filmed by matching the distinctively painted road kerbs, buildings and trees to satellite imagery.
The leader of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a coalition of rebel groups which includes the M23 group, had announced on Monday that the group would withdraw from the city as a “trust-building measure”.
It followed a request from the US which has been mediating between the governments of Rwanda and DRC.
The rebels remained present in the city after the announcement but on Wednesday M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma announced the group had begun withdrawing troops. The group said it intends to complete the withdrawal today, but has warned against militarisation.
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FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he will step down in January
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino speaks during a news conference on an arrest of a suspect in the January 6th pipe bomb case at the Department of Justice on Dec. 4, 2025.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said Wednesday he plans to step down from the bureau in January.
In a statement posted on X, Bongino thanked President Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel “for the opportunity to serve with purpose.”
Bongino was an unusual pick for the No. 2 post at the FBI, a critical job overseeing the bureau’s day-to-day affairs traditionally held by a career agent. Neither Bongino nor his boss, Patel, had any previous experience at the FBI.
Bongino did have previous law enforcement experience, as a police officer and later as a Secret Service agent, as well as a long history of vocal support for Trump.
Bongino made his name over the past decade as a pro-Trump, far-right podcaster who pushed conspiracy theories, including some involving the FBI. He had been critical of the bureau, embracing the narrative that it had been “weaponized” against conservatives and even calling its agents “thugs.”
His tenure at the bureau was at times tumultuous, including a clash with Justice Department leadership over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
But it also involved the arrest earlier this month of the man authorities say is responsible for placing two pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican committee headquarters, hours before the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In an unusual arrangement, Bongino has had a co-deputy director since this summer when the Trump administration tapped Andrew Bailey, a former attorney general of Missouri, to serve alongside Bongino in the No. 2 job.
President Trump praised Bongino in brief remarks to reporters before he announced he was stepping down.”Dan did a great job,” Trump said. “I think he wants to go back to his show.”
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Video: Man on Roof Faces Off with ICE Agents for Hours in Minnesota
new video loaded: Man on Roof Faces Off with ICE Agents for Hours in Minnesota
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transcript
Man on Roof Faces Off with ICE Agents for Hours in Minnesota
A man clung to a partially built roof for hours in frigid temperatures during a standoff with immigration agents in Chanhassen, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis. The confrontation was part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state to remove what it calls “vicious criminals.”
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“What a [expletive] embarrassment.” “Look at this guy.” “What’s with all the fascists?” “The Lord is with you.” “Where’s the bad hombre? What did this guy do?” “He’s out here working to support his [expletive] family.” “Gestapo agents.” “Oh yeah, shake your head, tough guy.” “This is where you get the worst of the worst right here, hard-working builders.” “Crossing the border is not a crime. Coming illegally to the United States is not a crime, according to you.” “C’mon, get out of here.” “Take him to a different hospital.”
By Ernesto Londoño, Jackeline Luna and Daniel Fetherston
December 17, 2025
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