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‘Fight back’: journalist taking Trump administration to court calls for media to resist attacks
The lead plaintiff in a lawsuit fighting Donald Trump’s order to dismantle Voice of America has said the media has to resist as the administration becomes increasingly aggressive against the press.“I never in a million years thought I would have to fight for freedom of the press in the United States of America. And yet here we are,” says Patsy Widakuswara, the White House bureau chief for the broadcasting network. “As journalism is under attack, it feels empowering to fight back. We need more people to resist and fight back.”Kicked out of press conferences on multiple continents for asking pointed questions, Widakuswara is not the type to balk at challenging powerful leaders. In her three decades as a journalist those instincts have served her well, and perhaps at no better time than now.The White House reporter is now leading the charge to save VOA, which the US president has described as “anti-Trump” and “radical”. In March, Trump signed an executive order that effectively cut off its funding via its parent company, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM).Launched in 1942, initially to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA is a federally funded international broadcasting network, produced in dozens of languages that reach about 350 million people around the globe.View image in fullscreenFor decades it has been seen as a form of soft power, encapsulating the values of liberal America. But after Trump’s order its operations have been suspended, with virtually all of VOA’s staff of 1,300 placed on immediate administrative leave and about 600 contractors terminated.The lawsuit filed by Widakuswara and several of her colleagues follows lawsuits the Trump administration has taken out against ABC News and CBS’s 60 Minutes in the US, and attempts to expel some press from the White House. Those backing the case argue that VOA has for decades provided an important source of objective information, especially in illiberal environments.“These are not just women in Afghanistan or farmers in Africa,” said Widakuswara of VOA’s audience. “They’re also activists in Russia and decision makers all around the world who are also facing the onslaught of disinformation and propaganda from Russia, Iran, China, and extremist organisations like [Islamic State] and al-Qaida.”At home having a quiet Saturday when she received the email about VOA’s demise, Widakuswara says to do nothing was inconceivable. In a matter of days she had rallied a team to fight against it, and by Friday morning had filed a lawsuit.“It’s just the way I’m wired,” she says over the phone from Washington. “Congress gave us a mandate to tell America’s story to the world through factual, balanced and comprehensive reporting. If they want to change the size, structure or function of VOA, they can’t just shut us down. They must go through Congress. That’s the law.”View image in fullscreen‘Holding autocratic governments to account’Starting her career in Jakarta in the late 90s, just as Indonesia’s decades-long dictator Suharto was being toppled, the Indonesian-born journalist has seen first-hand the impacts of authoritarian regimes.Widakuswara worked at a campus radio station, and later as a fixer for foreign journalists when they flooded in to cover the event, as mass student protests inundated the parliament building and forced Suharto to step down.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“That was my first taste in media,” she says. “Holding autocratic governments to account.”The experience led to a career in television, and a British Foreign and Commonwealth Office scholarship to obtain her master’s in journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London. After stints at the BBC and Channel 4, she was named VOA’s White House bureau chief in 2021.Now, she finds herself pushing against fascistic tendencies in her adopted home. “I grew up in 80s Indonesia where there was no press freedom and newspapers had to be careful what they printed to avoid government closure,” she says. “Could the US backslide that far? Not if enough people resist, and that’s why I’m fighting back.”Her lawsuit, backed by Reporters Without Borders and four unions, argues the Trump administration, through the actions of the defendants, USAGM, and the government’s special adviser Kari Lake, are attempting to unlawfully dismantle VOA’s operations because they deem it contrary to the government’s agenda.Widakuswara argues that Trump’s executive order is a violation of press freedom, the first amendment, and laws to prevent executive overreach, with VOA funding approved by Congress, not the president.Another motivating factor is to support her 47 colleagues at VOA on J-1 or journalist visas in the US, who could be sent back to countries such as Russia, Belarus, Vietnam and Myanmar which have previously jailed journalists.Widakuswara’s efforts to save VOA appeared to score an early win, with a judge in April ordering the Trump administration to restore funding to VOA and other US-funded media. But the preliminary injunction was only a temporary measure.On Saturday, just as VOA staff were preparing for a “phased return” to work, a court of appeals issued a stay on that ruling, saying the court did not have the authority to block Trump’s executive order regarding employment matters.Keenly aware of the unfavourable political climate she is up against, Widakuswara says it is hard to know if their case will ultimately prevail, but the only choice is to try. “Even if it’s just like a 5% chance or even a 1% chance, that’s better than a 0% chance, which is what happens if we do nothing.” More
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Trump news at a glance: President says he will not seek a third term
Donald Trump has said he sees himself as leaving office at the end of his current term and not seeking a third one – something he has not previously always been consistent on even though a third term is widely seen as unconstitutional.“I’ll be an eight-year president, I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important,” Trump said, acknowledging the constitutional constraints preventing him from seeking a third term. But he added that some people want him to serve a third term, which is prohibited by a constitutional amendment passed in 1947.“I’m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward,” he added.Here are the key stories at a glance:Trump says he doesn’t know if he needs to uphold constitutional due processUS President Donald Trump has said that he does not know whether he must uphold the US constitution, the nation’s founding legal document.In a wide-ranging NBC News interview Meet the Press, moderator Kristen Welker asked if people in the United States – citizens and non-citizens alike – deserve the due process of law, as the US constitution states. Trump said: “I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”Pressed more generally on whether he believes he needs to uphold the supreme law of the land, Trump repeated: “I don’t know.”In the same interview the US president also said he saw himself as leaving office at the end of his current term and not seeking a third oneRead the full storyTrump ‘doesn’t rule out’ using military force to control GreenlandDonald Trump would not rule out using military force to gain control of Greenland, the world’s largest island and an autonomous territory within Denmark, a fellow Nato member with the US.Since taking office, the US president has repeatedly expressed the idea of US expansion into Greenland, triggering widespread condemnation and unease both on the island itself and in the global diplomatic community. Greenland is seen as strategically important both for defence and as a future source of mineral wealth.In his interview with NBC’s Meet The Press, Trump was asked whether he would rule out using force against the territory.“I don’t rule it out. I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security,” Trump said.Read the full storyNPR and PBS push back against Trump’s order to cut fundingThe heads of embattled US public broadcasters, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), defended themselves against efforts by the Trump administration to cut off taxpayer funding, with both telling a Sunday political talkshow they were looking at legal options.PBS’s chief executive, Paula Kerger, told CBS News’s Face the Nation that Republican-led threats to withdraw federal funding from public broadcasters had been around for decades but are “different this time”.Kerger said: “They’re coming after us on many different ways … we have never seen a circumstance like this, and obviously we’re going to be pushing back very hard, because what’s at risk are our stations, our public television, our public radio stations across the country.”Read the full storyTrump announces 100% tariffs on movies ‘produced in foreign lands’Donald Trump on Sunday announced on his Truth Social platform a 100% tariff on all movies “produced in Foreign Lands”.In his post, he claimed to have authorised the Department of Commerce and the US trade representative to immediately begin instituting such a tariff, although he gave no details on how it would be implemented.“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,” Trump said in the Truth Social post. “It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”Read the full storyArts agency terminates dozens of grants after Trump proposes eliminating NEADozens of US arts organisations have been notified that offers of government grants have been terminated, hours after Donald Trump proposed eliminating federal agencies that support arts, humanities and learning.The cancellation of grant offers were reported from organisations across the US, including a $25,000 offer to a playhouse in Portland, Oregon, hours before the opening of a new production, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.Read the full storyTrump feels tug of political gravity as economy falters and polls plungeThe president started his second term fast and furious with a flurry of activity – much of it legally dubious – but analysts say the honeymoon is over, writes the Guardian’s David Smith.After a hundred days in which Trump at times appeared invincible, political gravity is exerting itself. A majority of Americans regard him as both a failure and a would-be dictator. From the courts to the streets, from law offices to college campuses, revolt is swelling. Republicans are eyeing next year’s midterm elections with nervousness.“The honeymoon is over,” said John Zogby, an author and pollster. “He actually squandered his hundred days, perhaps you can argue, by doing too much, not succeeding with much of it and overplaying his hand. At the end of the 100 days his polling numbers reflect an unsuccessful quarter. Every poll that I know of, including mine, has him upside down.”Read the full storyWhat else happened today:
Trump said on Sunday that he was directing the Federal Bureau of Prisons to rebuild and reopen the infamous Alcatraz prison in the San Francisco Bay to “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
Trump said he was considering naming his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller as national security adviser and expects to appoint a successor to Mike Waltz within six months. Trump made the comments while speaking to reporters on Air Force One.
An ultranationalist who opposes military aid to Ukraine, has vilified the EU’s leaders, and calls himself Donald Trump’s “natural ally” has won the first round of Romania’s rerun presidential vote.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 3 May 2025. More - in US Politics
Trump announces 100% tariffs on movies ‘produced in foreign lands’
Donald Trump on Sunday announced on his Truth Social platform a 100% tariff on all movies “produced in Foreign Lands”, saying the US film industry was dying a “very fast death” due to the incentives that other countries were offering to draw American film-makers.In his post, he claimed to have authorised the commerce department and the US trade representative to immediately begin instituting such a tariff.“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,” Trump said in the Truth Social post. “It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”“WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” Trump added.Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick posting on X said: “We’re on it.” Neither Lutnick nor Trump provided any details on the implementation. It was not immediately clear whether the move would target production companies, foreign or American, producing films overseas.Film and television production in Los Angeles has fallen by nearly 40% over the last decade, according to FilmLA, a non-profit that tracks the region’s production. At the same time, governments around the world have offered more generous tax credits and cash rebates to lure productions, and capture a greater share of the $248bn that Ampere Analysis predicts will be spent globally in 2025 to produce content.Politicians in Australia and New Zealand said on Monday they would advocate for their respective film industries, after the president’s announcement.Australia’s home affairs minister Tony Burke said he had spoken to the head of the government body Screen Australia about the proposed tariffs. “Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry,” he said in a statement.New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon told a news conference the government was awaiting further detail of the proposed tariffs. “We’ll have to see the detail of what actually ultimately emerges. But we’ll be obviously a great advocate, great champion of that sector in that industry,” he said.The announcement from Trump comes after he triggered a trade war with China, and imposed global tariffs which have roiled markets and led to fears of a US recession. The film industry has already been feeling the effects of the tariffs, as China in April responded to the announcements by reducing the quota of American movies allowed into that country.China is the world’s second largest film market after the US, although in recent years domestic offerings have outshone Hollywood imports.Former senior commerce department official William Reinsch, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said retaliation against Trump’s foreign movies tariffs would be devastating.“The retaliation will kill our industry. We have a lot more to lose than to gain,” he said, adding that it would be difficult to make a national security or national emergency case for movies. More
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NPR and PBS push back against Trump’s order to cut funding: ‘This could be devastating’
The heads of embattled US public broadcasters, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), defended themselves against efforts by the Trump administration to cut off taxpayer funding, with both telling a Sunday political talk show they were looking at legal options.PBS chief executive, Paula Kerger, told CBS News’s Face the Nation that Republican-led threats to withdraw federal funding from public broadcasters had been around for decades but are “different this time”.Kerger said: “They’re coming after us on many different ways … we have never seen a circumstance like this, and obviously we’re going to be pushing back very hard, because what’s at risk are our stations, our public television, our public radio stations across the country.”Donald Trump last week issued an executive order blocking NPR and PBS from receiving taxpayer funds through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).The White House said that unlike in 1967, when the corporation was established, the media landscape is now filled with news options and the concept of government funded news media was “not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence”.The order added: “Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”On Sunday, Kerger warned that some stations in smaller communities across the US could lose 40 to 50% of their funding. “And for them, it’s existential, and that’s what’s at risk if this funding goes away,” she said.NPR chief executive, Katherine Maher, who like Kruger was grilled by Republicans on Capital Hill last month over claims that programing at both operations was politically-biased, said her organization is “looking at whatever options are available to us”.But she added: “I think it’s a little preliminary for us to speak to the specific strategies that we might take.”Maher warned that the impact to local radio stations was immediate, “especially in a time where we’re seeing an advance of news deserts across the nation, 20% of Americans don’t have access to another local source of news. The impact of this could really be devastating, particularly in rural communities.”But the NPR boss also sought to resist the US president’s claims that her operation is left-leaning and pointed to reluctance by Trump administration officials to come on NPR shows.The point of public broadcasting, Maher said, is to “bring people together in those conversations and so, we have had a whole host of conservative voices on air of late”.Maher added: “We’ve been making requests of the Trump administration to have their officials air. We would like to see more people accept those invitations. It’s hard for us to be able to say we can speak for everyone when folks won’t join us.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIn a university commencement address in Alabama last week, Trump told journalism majors that he’s not sure he likes the press, but acknowledged a free press is important even though he has repeatedly called American journalists “enemies of the people”.“We need a brilliant press. They’re like a watch-keeper. They’re very important. And you can go out and take it down a new track. Help save the country. The people of this country, they know the truth when they hear it. That’s why the ratings, the approval numbers of the media, are so low.”However, ongoing arguments over media bias and threats to defund public broadcasters put children’s programming is at risk, including those that are not enrolled in formal pre-K schooling, Kerger warned on CBS.“That was the idea of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers, and everything that has followed since, is to make sure that children that do not have an access to a full array of resources have the opportunity to learn … That’s what’s at risk.” she said. More
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Trump says he ‘doesn’t rule out’ using military force to control Greenland
Donald Trump would not rule out using military force to gain control of Greenland, the world’s largest island and an autonomous territory within Denmark, a fellow Nato member with the US.Since taking office, the US president has repeatedly expressed the idea of US expansion into Greenland, triggering widespread condemnation and unease both on the island itself and in the global diplomatic community. Greenland is seen as strategically important both for defense and as a future source of mineral wealth.In an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday, Trump was asked whether he would rule out using force against the territory.“I don’t rule it out. I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security,” Trump said.The exchange came as part of wide-ranging interview following Trump’s first 100-days in office last week and he was also asked about the idea of using military force against Canada – an idea once unthinkable but now a subject of speculation amid Trump’s repeated assertion he would like to make Canada the US’s 51st state.“It’s highly unlikely. I don’t see it with Canada. I just don’t see it, I have to be honest with you,” Trump said.Trump said he had spoke with Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, and confirmed that the pair had not spoken about making his country part of the US.But he said they could discuss the topic when Carney visits Washington DC “this week or next week”. Carney, along with around 90% of Canadians, oppose the idea of folding Canada into the US. But Trump said he was open to a discussion.“I’ll always talk about that. You know why? We subsidize Canada to the tune of $200bn a year,” Trump said. “We don’t need their cars. In fact, we don’t want their cars. We don’t need their energy. We don’t even want their energy. We have more than they do. We don’t want their lumber. We have great lumber. All I have to do is free it up from the environmental lunatics.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionTrump said that if “Canada was part of the US it wouldn’t cost us. It would be great … it would be a cherished state. And, if you look at our map, if you look at the geography – I’m a real estate guy at heart. When I look down at that without that artificial line that was drawn with a ruler many years ago – was just an artificial line, goes straight across. You don’t even realize.”“What a beautiful country it would be,” he added.A poll published last month found that 68% of Americans believe Trump is serious about the US trying to take over Greenland, and 53% think Trump is serious when he talks about the US trying to take control of Canada.But the survey, commissioned by ABC News found that respondents didn’t think either annexation would be a good idea. About 86% said they opposed the US trying to take control of Canada, and 76% opposed trying to take control of Greenland. More
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Sheet show: MyPillow pitchman Mike Lindell’s Trumpified ‘news venture’
Millions of votes were stolen in the presidential election – only in the 2020 one, the 2024 one was fine. Freedom is under attack! DEI judges are going after Americans! President Trump is keeping his promises. Freedom is making a comeback! Bed sheets, any size, any color, are available for $25 a set if you use the promo code L77, offer is for a limited time only.Welcome to LindellTV, a strange mashup of a rightwing conspiracy theory news channel and bedroom-focused shopping platform.LindellTV is one of several pro-Trump media outlets that was granted highly prized White House press credentials earlier this year – a move the government said would boost democracy, but which so far seems to have only boosted “make America great again” propaganda.Founded by Mike Lindell, a pillow company CEO turned election fraud obsessive, LindellTV features fawning coverage of Trump and his allies, mixed in with conspiracy theories about voting machines – an issue which has already seen Lindell sued for millions of dollars. The channel isn’t carried by any actual television network, and its production values are comically poor, but that hasn’t stopped LindellTV working its way into the highest arena of US journalism.Access to the White House briefing room, where the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, holds daily briefings for the world’s media, is highly coveted, and eyebrows were raised when the likes of LindellTV and Steve Bannon’s podcast were invited in. Only about 60 journalists can fit in the room, where they get a chance to ask tough questions of the government, an opportunity to hold the White House to account on behalf of the US and the world.LindellTV reporters rarely take that chance.“Will you guys also consider releasing the president’s fitness plan?” Cara Castronuova asked Leavitt in April, after the White House said it would share results from Trump’s annual medical exam.“He actually looks healthier than ever before, healthier than he looked eight years ago, and I’m sure everybody in this room can agree. Is he working out with Bobby Kennedy, and is he eating less McDonald’s?”The addition of friendly media outlets like LindellTV has helped take the edge off what has been a traditionally adversarial relationship between journalists and the White House press secretary. But it has also denied a seat at the table for people who might ask questions not about the remarkable health of the 78-year-old, 224lb president.Instead, LindellTV’s daily content features hourlong shows from obscure rightwing podcasters, each lining up to tell the viewers – no data is available on how many people actually watch the network – what a superb job the Trump administration is doing.The flagship show is hosted by Lindell himself, a Minnesota-born, moustachioed businessman whose MyPillow business enjoyed relative success before being dropped by almost all high street retailers after Lindell descended into election conspiracy chaos.Lindell broadcasts his litany of conspiracy theories from what appears to be his home, but sometimes he does a walkabout, as was the case on Thursday, when he co-hosted The Mike Lindell Show from outside the White House. Most of his theories relate to judges “going after” him over his sustained and untrue claims that the 2020 election was stolen.A segment on Thursday afternoon, nominally on “election integrity”, featured Lindell speaking into the camera for almost an hour, flanked by two women from LindellTV, each holding a microphone in front of their boss and each looking very bored.Atypically for a broadcaster, Lindell was on a phone call while speaking to the camera, and at one point put the caller on speaker so he could also address the viewers. The sound was muffled, and Lindell eventually hung up the phone – “I’ll call you later,” Lindell said – before throwing to a woman called Vanessa in the LindellTV studio.Vanessa wasn’t listening. “Are you there?” Lindell said.Vanessa snapped to attention. Lindell talked at her for three minutes, before asking that the channel’s producers show a photo on screen of him talking to the press. LindellTV duly flashed to a blurry photo of Lindell speaking to a row of cameras.Lindell paused, and Vanessa finally got the chance to say something.“The people are depending on you,” she told Lindell.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionVanessa, with Lindell still on screen, asked her production team to play a clip of Trump speaking about Lindell at a rally. The viewers heard a panicked producer saying they didn’t have that footage, a message Vanessa relayed to viewers, before Lindell took charge, imploring people to buy his pillows and bedsheets.“They’re $25 a set,” Lindell said. “Any size, any color, while they last,” he added. The network then showed the MyPillow website, as Lindell told the production team to scroll down to the particular product he wanted people to buy. “We have over 250 products!” Lindell told the viewers.One of the reporters then joined in to tout the benefits of MyPillow “dream sheets”. “Most comfortable, best, softest sheets of my life,” she said.It was an unusual segment for a news network, and got stranger when one of the reporters then went on to urge people to buy Lindell’s book.“You will not ever have a dull moment,” the reporter said. “And praise Jesus for bringing you through this whole journey.”This shopping channel oeuvre is interspersed with a difficult-to-follow list of Lindell’s grievances.Earlier this week, above a chyron that read “DEI judge is going after Mike!!!!”, Lindell continued his four-year crusade to, in his words, restore election integrity.“The United States has the worst, everybody, elections on planet Earth. There’s nobody worse than us. You can find communist countries – nobody has worse elections than the United States,” Lindell said.The channel then cut to an advert for MyPillow, of course, but also invited viewers to claim $20,000 in silver from a website called MikeLindellGold.com.When the Guardian tried to access the website, Google Chrome denied access, warning that it “might be trying to steal your information”.It was a neat metaphor for a channel that is built on chaos and slip-ups and dodgy facts and figures, a channel that despite those flaws, has been granted much sought-after access to the Trump administration. More
