President Donald Trump ordered yet another federal agency to cancel all of its media contracts in the wake of the recent controversy involving Politico, a report from Axios claims.
According to an email obtained by Axios, the Trump administration apparently called for the General Services Administration to discontinue all of its paid media contracts.
“GSA team, please do two things,” the email from a Trump official began. “Pull all contracts for Politico, BBC, E&E (Politico sub) and Bloomberg.”
The email reiterated that the directive applied to “every single media contract” with the GSA alone: “Pull all media contracts for just GSA … for GSA only.”
Whether the contracts are to be pulled temporarily or permanently is unclear. However, a White House official indicated to Axios that the Trump administration was laser-focused on the media. “The eye of Sauron is on more than just Politico,” the official said. “It’s all the media.”
The New York Post reached out to the White House late Thursday night to confirm the reporting from Axios but did not receive a response.
The GSA is billed as an “independent” agency designed to improve government efficiency by managing government real estate and buying government equipment and solutions from private businesses. “We also promote management best practices and efficient government operations through the development of governmentwide policies,” its website says.
‘THE DEMOCRATS CAN’T HIDE FROM THIS ONE.’
The report regarding the GSA and its apparently now-defunct media contracts comes on the heels of a major controversy involving Politico Pro, a subscription service affiliated with the Politico media outlet.
A quick scan of USAspending.gov revealed earlier this week that the federal government had shelled out $8 million in subscription fees to Politico Pro in the last year alone and more than $34 million since fiscal year 2016. Politico’s affiliate, Capitol News Company LLC, received another $4.5 million from fiscal year 2011 through 2023, Blaze News previously reported.
In response to the uproar that ensued, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt promised on Wednesday that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency would begin “working on canceling those payments now.”
The following day, Trump took to Truth Social and slammed Politico as a “left wing ‘rag'” and claimed that the subscriptions paid for by federal agencies like the United States Agency for International Development were actually a quid pro quo for favorable news coverage of the Democratic Party:
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. THE LEFT WING ‘RAG,’ KNOWN AS ‘POLITICO,’ SEEMS TO HAVE RECEIVED $8,000,000. Did the New York Times receive money??? Who else did??? 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!
In a letter to readers, Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and editor in chief John Harris pushed back against the accusations, claiming that the subscription sales to federal agencies were normal, apolitical business transactions akin to purchases of “research, equipment, software and industry reports.”
“We have never received any government funding — no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Not one dime, ever, in 18 years,” they wrote.
“Some online voices are deliberately spreading falsehoods. Let’s be clear: POLITICO has no financial dependence on the government and no hidden agenda. We cover politics and policy — that’s our job.”
For its part, Axios apparently quickly accepted the explanation offered by Politico leadership — and indicated that those questioning the tens of millions of dollars exchanged between the federal government and major media outlets were peddling “false conspiracy theories.”
Of note, Axios also added a key disclosure at the bottom of the article, acknowledging that Axios Pro received $5,550 in subscription fees from the Federal Communications Commission last year.
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Politico, Politico pro, Subscription, Media, Government services administration, Gsa, Donald trump, Politics
