Hello, and happy Friday.
Amid everything going on in the world right now, you’d be forgiven for having missed this particular news item: Last week, the Trump administration announced funding cuts to federal agencies including the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees government-funded broadcasters such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. As a result, the future of these broadcasters — whose purpose is to provide independent news to audiences in countries without a free and robust press — is now in doubt.
If Trump dismantling U.S.-funded broadcasters sounds familiar, that is because it is. Longtime readers of this correspondence might remember this feature I wrote in 2021 chronicling the first Trump administration’s attempts to impose a partisan takeover of USAGM and its broadcasters. As I wrote at the time:
At its core, the Trump administration’s takeover of USAGM threatened the delicate status quo that its broadcasters enjoyed as outlets financed, but not editorially controlled, by the state. For the staff at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, this threat bordered on existential: it was designed to serve parts of the world where independent journalism is heavily suppressed or nonexistent. Its presence as a source of unfettered news and information is what sets it apart in the countries it covers. Autocratic regimes such as the Kremlin have seized any opportunity to drive it out. By attempting to erode its editorial independence and sow doubt in its credibility, the Trump administration appears to have done much of their work for them.
Rather than attempt to influence the editorial direction of these broadcasters as it tried before, it seems that the Trump administration has decided to do away with them altogether. This will no doubt be welcome news for the likes of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and other illiberal leaders who have sought to block and ban these broadcasters from reaching their respective countries.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is not going down without a fight. The broadcaster has decided to sue the Trump administration on the grounds that “denying RFE/RL the funds that Congress appropriated for it violates federal laws — including the U.S. Constitution, which vests Congress with exclusive power over federal spending.” Watch this space.
What I’ve read
This essay on the significance of Mahmoud Khalil’s detention:
This is what is important: It does not matter if you approve of Khalil’s views. It does not matter if you support the Israelis or the Palestinians. It does not matter if you are a liberal or a conservative. It does not even matter if you voted for Trump or Kamala Harris. If the state can deprive an individual of his freedom just because of his politics, which is what appears to have happened here, then no one is safe. You may believe that Khalil does not deserve free speech or due process. But if he does not have them, then neither do you. Neither do I.
This long read on America’s first measles death in a decade
At one point in the parking lot, Peter had asked me why his daughter matters to the rest of the country. I’d struggled in the moment to come up with an answer. For Peter and his family, the loss of their daughter is a private tragedy, one that would be excruciating no matter how she died. The fact that she died of measles, though, is a sign that something has gone wrong with the country’s approach to public health. Twenty-five years ago, measles was declared “eliminated” in the United States. Now a deadly crisis is unfolding in West Texas.
This piece on what Israel’s “right to self-defense” actually means:
Put another way, while Israel does have legal recourse against threats emanating from the Palestinian territories, Israel lost its right to invoke self-defense when it started its military occupation nearly 58 years ago. “The only way for Israel to ensure the security of its territory and its citizens,” Albanese said, “is to stop abusing another people, to stop occupying the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
What I’m thinking about
As an American living abroad, I’ve felt mostly shielded from the direct impact of the Trump administration’s massive cuts to the federal bureaucracy. That is, until I tried planning a summer roadtrip across my native California.
As I recently discovered, the reservation system for Yosemite, the state’s most-visited national park which welcomes roughly 4 million visitors annually, has been suspended amid all of the funding cuts and mass layoffs hitting the National Park Service. Aside from causing all sorts of confusion for travelers (read: me), the current situation risks the park becoming overrun without vital staff support, to the detriment of visitors and nature alike.
As California Sen. Alex Padilla recently warned: “The Administration’s decision to eliminate seasonal employees, rescind job offers, and reduce staffing has created critical gaps in park operations, which will only worsen during the summer. Without sufficient staff, visitors will face long lines, trash will accumulate, and vital water and wastewater systems will be neglected. Additionally, reduced staffing will severely hinder Yosemite’s ability to manage wildfire risks, jeopardizing both the park and surrounding communities. With rangers stretched thin, visitor safety and the successful implementation of the reservation system are at serious risk.”
Smokey Bear would be none too pleased.
Until next time,
Yasmeen