Former journalist Kari Lake helps Trump gut global news agency
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The U.S. Agency for Global Media website, featuring a photo of Kari Lake, is displayed on a phone with Voice of America seen in the background in Brussels, Belgium. Photo: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Kari Lake is now in charge of gutting a government-funded media agency in what is yet another unexpected chapter for the former local journalist Arizonans welcomed into their living rooms for over two decades.
Why it matters: The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) aims to "inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy."
The big picture: The agency found itself in Trump's crosshairs during his first term and has received renewed ire from MAGA politicians who see it as an extension of the mainstream media they believe is overly critical of Trump and conservatives.
- USAGM oversees five international broadcasters, including Voice of America (VOA), which was created more than 80 years ago to combat Nazi propaganda during WWII with fact-driven journalism.
Catch up quick: President Trump announced in December he would appoint Lake to lead VOA. On social media, Lake said she'd use the position to "[chronicle] America's achievements worldwide."
- Because her appointment requires approval from the International Broadcasting Advisory Board (of which all members Trump dismissed in January and has not yet replaced), she's instead been named a special adviser for USAGM.
Friction point: In February, Trump's government efficiency adviser Elon Musk posted on X that VOA and its sister broadcasters were irrelevant, and he wanted to "shut them down."
- Lake pushed back, telling the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference that VOA was worth saving.
- "We are fighting an information war, and there's no better weapon than the truth, and I believe VOA could be that weapon," she said.
The latest: Lake has drastically changed her view. She applauded Trump's March 14 edict to eliminate USAGM "to the maximum extent" allowed by law and placed nearly all 1,300 VOA employees on leave the following day.
- "From top-to-bottom this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer—a national security risk for this nation—and irretrievably broken," Lake said in a statement at the time.
- She said as a special adviser, she'd discovered "obscene overspending" and "a product that often parrots the talking points of America's adversaries" at USAGM.
What's next: Multiple lawsuits have been filed against USAGM and Lake to try to stop the agency's dismantling.
- On Wednesday evening, Lake withdrew an order to terminate the 2025 funding grant for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, one of VOA's sister broadcasters that had sued over the pulled funding.
What we're watching: If Lake succeeds in getting rid of the news operation she was supposed to lead, where will she go next?
- Lake and USAGM did not respond to questions about her plans.