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.”

It’s 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 Trump’s 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 Musk’s 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, 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. “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. “We’re catching them left and right,” Trump said. “We’re catching them. We’re catching them to a point where they don’t know what the heck is going on. They can’t believe they’re getting caught.”

Governments paying for news outlets’ content is common

Politico, 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. 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.”

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 Musk’s voice is also in the mix

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.”

“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 AP’s nonpartisan journalism, just like thousands of news outlets and customers around the world. It’s 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, Musk’s 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.

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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