Trump signs order to gut staff at Voice of America and other US-funded media organizations

President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave.

On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba.