Elon Musk has called for the shutdown of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA), two media organizations funded by the U.S. government, claiming they are no longer relevant.
Musk made the remarks in response to a post on X by Richard Grenell, the U.S. Special Envoy for Special Missions, who criticized the outlets as taxpayer-funded media filled with “far-left activists.”
“It’s state-owned media,” Grenell wrote. “These outlets are a relic of the past. We don’t need government-paid media outlets.”
Musk agreed, posting: “Yes, shut them down.” He went on to claim that the organizations “are just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1 billion a year of U.S. taxpayer money.”
RFE/RL and VOA operate under the U.S. Agency for Global Media and were originally established to counter propaganda during the Cold War. They continue to broadcast in regions with restricted press freedom, including Russia, Iran, and parts of Central Asia.
The Trump administration previously sought to scale back funding for government-supported international media and foreign aid programs, a move that was strongly opposed by congressional Democrats.
