That's what Donald Trump is now asserting 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.”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt a day earlier said the government had paid more than $8 million for Politico subscriptions and that Elon Musk's government efficiency team “is working on canceling those payments.” That quickly prompted a social-media maelstrom and a hunt by online sleuths for other evidence of taxpayer spending on the news.
Musk, 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.”.
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.
Now,” Richard Grenell, Trump's 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.
