Scoop: Trump orders key government agency to cancel all media contracts
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The White House has directed the General Services Administration to terminate "every single media contract" expensed by the agency, according to an email obtained by Axios.
What they're saying: "GSA team, please do two things," a Trump administration official wrote:
Pull all contracts for Politico, BBC, E&E (Politico sub) and Bloomberg
Pull all media contracts for just GSA - cancel every single media contract today for GSA only.
Why it matters: President Trump is targeting the federal government's media contracts after Elon Musk and his allies discovered millions of dollars in agency subscriptions to Politico Pro, a policy tracking service widely used in Washington.
- The discovery, made through a U.S. government spending database that has long been publicly available, triggered erroneous theories on X about the Biden administration "funding" anti-Trump media.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the executive branch would stop spending money on Politico subscriptions amid the right-wing outrage.
- GSA manages real estate, procurement and technology services for the federal government. An X account for DOGE has also announced cuts to other individual deals, such as a Treasury contract with the New York Times.
Reality check: Politico's executives addressed the false conspiracy theories about the company receiving "funding" from the government in a note to readers Thursday.
- "POLITICO is a privately owned company. We have never received any government funding — no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Not one dime, ever, in 18 years," wrote Politico Media Group CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Politico Global Editor-In-Chief John Harris.
- "POLITICO Pro is different. It is a professional subscription service used by companies, organizations, and, yes, some government agencies."
- "Government agencies that subscribe do so through standard public procurement processes—just like any other tool they buy to work smarter and be more efficient."
Between the lines: A White House official said there should be no surprise the government is targeting media subscription, given DOGE's mandate to cut spending and Trump's opposition to financially helping the mainstream media.
- "The eye of Sauron is on more than just Politico," the adviser said. "It's all the media."
Disclosure: Our Axios Pro product provides in-depth policy and industry news to paying subscribers, including government employees. Last year, $5,550 in payments were made to Axios as part of a Federal Communications Commission subscription, according to the government's database that tracks federal spending.
