The US government should stop funding the radio station "Voice of America" and the media corporation Radio "Free Europe"/Radio Liberty. Elon Musk, who heads the US Government Efficiency Agency, expressed confidence in this.
"Yes, close them", Musk wrote on X, commenting on the reports about the mentioned media. "Europe is now free (except for the stifling bureaucracy)", Musk added. "Nobody listens to them anymore", he emphasized, speaking of the radio and the media corporation. “These are just crazy radical leftists who talk to themselves and burn $ 1 billion a year of American taxpayer money“, he concluded.
This is how Musk commented on the messages of US President Donald Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell, who previously wrote in X: "Radio Free Europe" and "Voice of America" - these are media outlets that are paid for by American taxpayers. These are state-owned media outlets. They have many far-left activists working in them. I have been working with these journalists for decades“. “This is a relic of the past. We do not need state-funded media outlets“, Grenell emphasized.
The Trump administration has previously taken a number of measures aimed at reducing federal budget spending. At the end of January, funding for almost all foreign aid programs was suspended. Later, a significant part of these programs were resumed.
Trump appointed Musk to head a new US agency to improve the efficiency of the US government, reduce the bloated state apparatus and fight bureaucracy (Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE). The American leader noted that DOGE “will provide external advice and guidance“ in cooperation with the White House. According to NBC News, the new structure will not be a full-fledged department in the federal government.
On January 24, the new agency reported that in the first 80 hours of work it had canceled government contracts deemed unnecessary for approximately 420 million USD. In total, Musk expects to reduce US government spending by 2 trillion USD.