Washington, D.C. – February 2025 – White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed on Wednesday that the U.S. government would cancel $8 million worth of subscriptions to Politico, following a conspiracy theory that the media outlet and the Associated Press (AP) had received millions of dollars in federal funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). However, this claim was based on a misunderstanding of the nature of the payments, which were simply government subscriptions to Politico’s premium services.
Background on the Controversy
The controversy began when conservative commentator Kyle Becker and other right-wing figures suggested that Politico had been receiving funds from USAID, citing a report from Semafor about payment issues with Politico staffers. The claim was quickly amplified by media personalities including Benny Johnson, Charlie Kirk, and Dana Loesch, who suggested that federal funds were being used to support the news outlet’s operations.
In a series of posts, Becker linked Politico’s financial transactions with USAID funding, arguing that taxpayer dollars were supporting the news organization. This claim was based on data showing that the federal government spent approximately $8.2 million on Politico Pro subscriptions in 2024, which includes subscriptions for various government agencies.
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The Reality of the Payments
Leavitt, responding to these claims, stated that taxpayer dollars would no longer be allocated to subsidize these subscriptions. However, reporters quickly clarified that the $8.2 million represented payments for subscriptions to Politico’s Pro service, which is a premium editorial product used by multiple federal agencies, not grants or direct funding from USAID. Byron Tau, an investigative reporter at the AP, pointed out that these payments were part of routine government purchases of journalism services, not special funding to Politico.
Politico’s leadership also addressed the issue, issuing a memo to staff asserting that the outlet had never received any funding from the government. “Politico has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies— not one cent, ever, in 18 years,” wrote Goli Sheikholeslami and John Harris, the outlet’s top executives.
Broader Context of Government News Subscriptions
Politico explained that the payments reflected the value of its journalism, with government agencies subscribing to its Pro service just as private companies and other organizations do. Similarly, the AP clarified that the U.S. government has long been a customer of its nonpartisan journalism, and it is common for governments to have contracts with news organizations for content.
This situation is not the first time the Trump administration has taken issue with federal government spending on media subscriptions. In 2019, the administration urged federal agencies to cut subscriptions to The Washington Post and The New York Times, though it remains unclear whether those cancellations were fully implemented.
Moving Forward
Despite the misunderstanding, Politico’s executives emphasized that their service continues to be valuable to government agencies, with high subscription renewal rates. Isaac Saul, founder of the independent Tangle newsletter, referred to the controversy as “DOGE nonsense,” explaining that expensive subscriptions to news outlets like Politico are essential for government employees to do their jobs effectively.
