NPR sues Trump for executive order to reduce funding for public media

New York (AP) – National Radio and three of his local stations sued the President Donald Trump On Tuesday argue that his being Executive She violates her freedom of speech for the 246-station network and is based on an authority that he does not have.

At the beginning of this month, Trump instructed the corporation for public broadcasting and federal authorities to cease the financing for NPR and PBS either directly or indirectly. The president and his supporters argue that their reported reporting promotes liberal bias and should not be supported by the taxpayers.

Remewing is Trump's clear purpose, according to the lawsuit. It was submitted before the Federal Supreme Court in Washington by NPR and three Colorado companies – Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and Kuten, Inc. – to show the diversity of the system in urban and rural areas.

“By the basis of its guidelines on the substance of the NPR programming, the executive regulation tries to force NPR to adapt its journalistic standards and editorial decisions to the government's preferences if it is to continue to receive federal financing,” said Katherine Maher, CEO of NPR on Tuesday.

According to a lawsuit, Trump is aimed at a private non -profit company

The lawsuit claims that Trump acts against the corporation for public broadcasting, a private non -profit company that is set up to distribute federal financing to the NPR and PBS to isolate the system from political interference. The congress has acquired 535 million US dollars annually to CPB for 2025, 2026 and 2027.

In response to the lawsuit, the deputy press spokesman for the White House, Harrison Fields, said that CPB “established media to support a certain political party at the cent of taxpayers”, so that Trump exercised his authority in accordance with the law. “The president was chosen with a mandate to ensure the efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his rightful authority, To achieve this goal, “said Fields.

Trump did not hide his feelings against NPR and described it in a social media post in April as the “liberal disinformation machine”.

The court campaign was expected to be because the heads of NPR and PBS Both reacted to Trump's step At the beginning of this month with statements that they believed that it was illegal. The lack of PBS from the submission on Tuesday indicates that the two systems will challenge this separately. PBS has not yet went to court, but will probably soon.

“PBS is considering every option, including legal measures so that our organization can continue to offer important programs and services for member stations and all Americans,” said Jeremy Gains, spokesman for PBS, on Tuesday.

Trump is located in other legal disputes with news organizations

The President's attempts to reduce news sources conducted by the government, such as Voice of America And Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also triggered court struggles.

The administration fought with the press on several fronts. The Federal Communications Commission examines ABC, CBS and NBC News. The Associated Press too went to court After the administration had restricted access to certain events in response to the decision of the organization not to rename the Gulf of Mexico when Trump decided.

In the lawsuit it is said that 11% of the budget of the public radio of Aspen is provided by the company for public broadcasting. It is 6% for the Colorado Public Radio, a network of 19 stations and 19% of Kuten's budget. This station was founded in 1976 by the southern Indian tribe.

NPR notes that the order is trying to prohibit individual stations in the NPR system, to use a federal benefit to buy NPR programs, such as “everything in consideration”, the most belonging to the country's radio news programs, the early counterpart “Morning Edition” and cultural programs such as that Tiny desk concerts.

The order “directly affects editorial independence by demanding that you are looking for programming elsewhere,” says the lawsuit.

According to the NPR, it also offers infrastructure services for hundreds of public radio stations and without them would shrink their coverage area. It also offers the backbone for notal arm systems across the country.

“Public broadcasting is an irreplaceable basis for American citizens' life,” said Maher. “In the best case, it reflects our nation in all our complexity, contradictions and similarities to itself and combines our communities across differences and differences.”

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David Bauderer writes about the interface of the media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him And