On Thursday, President Donald Trump made a startling claim that the Biden administration’s U.S. Department of Defense had entered into another multi-million dollar contract with a major news outlet. In a short post on Truth Social, the Republican accused former defense officials of approving a $9 million contract with Reuters, an international outlet that competes with the Associated Press in size and reach.
According to Trump, the deal involved studying “large scale money deception,” though he did not provide additional details in his revelation. “Give the money back, now!” Trump wrote in an all-capitalized reaction to the news.
The discovery is part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s extensive investigation into the federal budget, much of which has been exposed by leader Elon Musk in recent weeks. Among the findings were reports of other payments to media outlets like the AP and Politico, which Trump has suggested were part of a quid pro quo: dozens of costly subscription plans in return for favorable coverage of Democrats. Trump reiterated that accusation in a follow-up post on Thursday.
“DOGE: Why was Politico paid Millions of Dollars for NOTHING. Buying the press??? PAY BACK THE MONEY TO THE TAXPAYERS! How much has the Failing New York Times paid? Is this the money that is keeping it open??? THEY ARE BUYING THE PRESS!” he wrote.
Other media outlets, along with the White House Correspondents’ Association, have defended both publications, arguing that the White House is misrepresenting the payments. They claim the funds were used for high-level bureaucrats to gain access to additional coverage of Washington, D.C.’s inner workings through costly Politico Pro accounts. Nevertheless, the scale of the subscriptions is staggering: before USAID was dismantled, DOGE investigators discovered the agency was paying Politico about $500,000 annually for 37 premium accounts.
Last week, the editors of Politico issued a note at the top of the outlet’s national and state-level Playbook newsletters refuting the idea that the millions of dollars in subscriptions were related to payola. “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,” read a public letter from CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Editor-in-Chief John Harris. “POLITICO Pro is different. It is a professional subscription service used by companies, organizations, and, yes, some government agencies. They subscribe because it makes them better at their jobs.”
He added: “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. This is not funding. It is a transaction — just as the government buys research, equipment, software and industry reports. Some online voices are deliberately spreading falsehoods. Let’s be clear: POLITICO has no financial dependence on the government and no hidden agenda. We cover politics and policy — that’s our job.”