USAID became the first U.S. department to be targeted by Elon Musk’s DOGE employees, a group that has faced significant criticism for their aggressive tactics and alleged lack of experience. On Thursday morning, President Trump stepped in to support Musk’s team, offering a helping hand during the controversy. Saying:
“LOOKS LIKE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN STOLLEN (sic) 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”, Trump said.
However, reporters have pointed out that the payments are not exclusively USAID funds.
“I looked at these contracts and I have my own fun fact,” Byron Tau, an investigative reporter at the Associated Press, said via X. “This is occurring because agencies (not just USAID) are buying subscriptions to Politico’s Pro editorial product, not because Politico is getting grants or other federal funding.”
The Trump administration’s attention to the false narrative surrounding Politico’s receipt of USAID funds stems from a misleading claim made by conservative commentator Kyle Becker on Wednesday. In an X thread, Becker linked a Tuesday report from Semafor, which revealed that Politico staffers had not been paid due to a “technical error” that was later resolved, to a USASpending.gov page showing that Politico had received $8.2 million across 237 transactions. This connection fueled the ongoing controversy despite the error being addressed.
“Fun Fact: @Politico received USAID funds,” Kyle Becker posted on X, adding, “Everything makes sense now.”
Becker tried to link a “technical error” reported by Semafor, which had caused Politico staffers to miss a payment, to USAID funds. He suggested that these funds were being used to support Politico’s premium subscriptions. In the same thread, Becker also claimed that the Associated Press had been receiving millions of taxpayer dollars for years.
Becker’s posts quickly gained traction among far-right figures, such as Benny Johnson, Charlie Kirk, and Dana Loesch, with Loesch even calling for protests outside Politico’s offices. Will Sommer, a media reporter for The Washington Post, pointed out the irony that Johnson, who helped spread the false theory, had himself received illegal payments from the Russian government.
Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency, also weighed in on Becker’s claim, calling the alleged payments “a huge waste of taxpayer money!”
In response, Politico’s leadership, Goli Sheikholeslami and John Harris, issued a memo to staff on Wednesday, denying the accusations. “POLITICO has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies—not one cent, ever, in 18 years,” they wrote.
They acknowledged, however, that government agencies subscribe to Politico’s premium services, just as corporations do. “The value of this journalism is clear, as evidenced by our subscription re-enlistment rates,” they stated. Politico also expressed openness to conversations with government subscribers, confident that most would see the ongoing value in their services.
