President Donald Trump warned Republican senators who do not support his plan to defund public broadcasters like PBS and NPR that they will lose his political support.
The president, in a post on Truth Social late on Thursday, said GOP lawmakers must “adhere” to a rescissions bill — which he called a “Recissions Bill” in his post — that aims to claw back funding that was set aside for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” the president wrote.
He continued: “Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
President Trump’s post came after the House of Representatives voted in June to cut $1.1 billion in funding that had previously been approved for public broadcasters, throwing the futures of many NPR and PBS affiliates into doubt.
The $1.1 billion in slashed public broadcasting funds was part of $9.4 billion in total cuts approved by the House, with other agencies like U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) affected by the vote. Public broadcasting officials have said the cuts would spell the end for a number of local news stations.
In May, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the end of taxpayer subsidization of PBS and NPR, two outlets he has called “radical left monsters” that have a bias against conservatives.
“Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse and innovative news options,” the order said. “Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
The president then formally called on Congress to cancel public broadcaster funding over the next two years via a rescission request, which needs a simple majority in both the House and the Senate for approval.
Congress had already allocated $535 million for public broadcasters this fiscal year, and PBS recently said it is it receiving $325 million in 2025 from the CPB, which accounts for 22% of its funding.
NPR and PBS have both sued the Trump Administration in an attempt to thwart its plan to defund public broadcasters. The lawsuit filed by PBS argued the president’s executive order violates its First Amendment rights, while also claiming President Trump does not have the authority to make decisions over funding for public broadcasters.
President Trump, the lawsuit added, was engaging in “viewpoint discrimination” because he has claimed PBS is biased against him and other Republicans.
PBS chief Paula Kerger, during a May interview with Katie Couric, said “there are stations that will go off the air” in rural areas if the president gets what he wants, without projecting a specific number of PBS member stations that would cease to operate.
“I think we’ll figure out a way, through digital, to make sure there is some PBS content,” Kerger said. “But there won’t be anyone in the community creating local content. There won’t be a place for people to come together.”
The Senate is expected to vote on the rescissions bill next week.
