Right Wing Conspiracy Theory Mistakes Government Subscriptions to News Outlet as 'Payoff' for Left-Leaning Stories

The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it would cancel $8 million worth of Politico subscriptions across federal agencies following a right-wing conspiracy theory that falsely claimed the news outlet had been secretly receiving taxpayer funding in exchange for stories favoring Democrats.

At a White House press briefing Wednesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt referenced the false claim, saying taxpayer dollars were being used to "essentially subsidize subscriptions to Politico," and that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was working to cancel the payments.

President Donald Trump perpetuated the falsehood on Thursday in a post to Truth Social, claiming "billions of dollars have been stolen" with "much of it going to the fake news media as a 'payoff' for creating good stories about the democrats."

However, the payments were not grants or subsidies but rather subscription fees for Politico Pro, a premium service providing in-depth reporting to government agencies. The expenditure is listed publicly on USASpending.gov, along with other media outlets government agencies subscribe to.

The conspiracy theory gained traction after conservative commentator Kyle Becker linked a recent payroll issue at Politico to USAID payments listed on USASpending.gov. His claim was amplified by right-wing figures such as Benny Johnson and Charlie Kirk, with some even calling for protests outside Politico's offices, CNN reported.

In response, Politico's leadership firmly denied receiving any government funding, explaining that various agencies purchase subscriptions just as private corporations do.

"POLITICO has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies — not one cent, ever, in 18 years," POLITICO leaders Goli Sheikholeslami and John Harris wrote in a memo Wednesday.

The Associated Press, which was also falsely accused of receiving subsidies, stated that the federal government has long been a customer, licensing AP's nonpartisan journalism across administrations.

Media experts and journalists have dismissed the controversy as misinformation, with Tangle founder Isaac Saul calling it "DOGE nonsense."

This is not the first time the Trump administration has taken issue with government subscriptions—similar action was taken in 2019 against The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Despite the frenzy among some conservatives over what Trump suggested could be "The biggest scandal of them all, perhaps the biggest in history," government agencies, like any other organizations, pay for news subscriptions to stay informed.