President Donald Trump attends the National Prayer Breakfast at Washington Hilton, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-02-07T00:50:57Z NEW YORK (AP) Federal government payments to news outlets like Politico, The New York Times and The Associated Press for subscriptions or to license content are in the crosshairs of Trump administration spending hawks, with the president on Thursday calling it potentially THE BIGGEST SCANDAL OF THEM ALL.Its the latest in a series of skirmishes with the media, long a target of Donald Trump and his supporters. The Defense Department last week evicted NPR, NBC, the Times and Politico from their Pentagon workspaces, and Trump has continued to criticize CBS 60 Minutes for its handling of an interview with former opponent Kamala Harris last fall. Free press advocates are also concerned about Trumps plans for the media outlet Voice of America, whose charter guarantees its editorial freedom. This time, though, is a bit different. By linking federal government spending to the media, Trump has bundled two of his long-favored political targets into one rhetorical package denouncing a common practice as untoward while offering no supporting evidence for his assertions. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the government had paid more than $8 million for Politico subscriptions and that Elon Musks government efficiency team is working on canceling those payments. That quickly set off a social-media maelstrom and a hunt by online sleuths for other evidence of taxpayer spending on the news. The U.S. government must stop paying for media subscriptions. Now, Richard Grenell, Trumps special mission envoy, posted on X. Trump, on his Truth Social platform, complained about payments to the FAKE NEWS MEDIA for creating good stories about Democrats. Did the New York Times receive money??? Who else did??? THIS COULD BE THE BIGGEST SCANDAL OF THEM ALL, he wrote.And at a national prayer breakfast at the Capitol on Thursday morning, Trump touted the efforts to look into the media spending. Were catching them left and right, Trump said. Were catching them. Were catching them to a point where they dont know what the heck is going on. They cant believe theyre getting caught. Governments paying for news outlets content is commonPolitico, in a statement to readers from CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Editor-in-Chief John Harris, said Thursday that it is not getting a government subsidy. It is a transaction just as the government buys research, equipment, software and industry reports, they said. Some online voices are deliberately spreading falsehoods. Lets be clear: Politico has no financial dependence on the government and no hidden agenda. We cover politics and policy thats our job.It has not been unusual for governments, federal and state, to subscribe to major media outlets to keep up on important or strategic issues. The U.S. State Department, for example, may depend on international news reporting for clarity on incidents happening in countries where the United States has interests. Specialists in an agency like the Department of Transportation follow trade publications for industry trends. The Politico Pro service helps government and private sector customers track policy, legislation and regulations in real time with news, intelligence and a suite of data products, the company said. It would not discuss how many subscriptions it has sold, or the prices.The New York Times said it earned less than $2 million last year through government subscriptions, which are offered at a discounted rate. Through one arrangement, the Times gives access to more than 1 million active and retired military members and their families.These officials and other public servants are simply seeking to better understand the world through our independent journalism, like millions of other Americans, spokesman Charlie Stadtlander said. Elon Musks voice is also in the mixMusk, also a frequent critic of the mainstream media and the owner of a platform that in many ways competes with it, retweeted one message on X that complained about the AP raking in millions of dollars in government money for years.Not for long, Musk added. This is obviously a huge waste of taxpayer money.AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said that the U.S. government has long been an AP customer through both Democratic and Republican administrations. It licenses APs nonpartisan journalism, just like thousands of news outlets and customers around the world. Its quite common for governments to have contracts with news organizations for their content.The outlet would not reveal how much it is earning in federal government contracts.Separately, Musks focus on the USAID agency has threatened some $268 million in congressionally-authorized funding aimed at offering training and support to some 6,200 independent journalists working around the world, including in war-torn Ukraine, said the organization Reporters Without Borders.Denying the money will create a vacuum that plays into the hands of propagandists and authoritarian states, said Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA branch. ___David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social DAVID BAUDER Bauder is the APs national media writer, covering the intersection of news, politics and entertainment. 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