Kari Lake Says VOA Will Terminate Contracts With Several News Agencies
Kari Lake, who serves as the Special Adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), has announced that Voice of America (VOA) will no longer be maintaining its contracts with major news agencies such as The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse.
On Friday, Lake shared via a post on X that the USAGM, which provides funding for VOA, has decided to terminate its "expensive and unnecessary newswire contracts."
“I moved today to cancel expensive and unnecessary newswire contracts for US Agency for Global Media, including tens-of-millions of dollars in contracts with The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse,” she stated.
Lake emphasized that "USAGM is an American taxpayer funded News Organization with an 83-year history. We should not be paying outside news companies to tell us what the news is—with nearly a billion-dollar budget, we should be producing news ourselves."
She continued, “And if that’s not possible, the American taxpayer should demand to know why,” further highlighting that the decision is expected to save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars each year.
Prior to her announcement on X, she addressed the issue in an interview with Newsmax, noting that investigators had uncovered "a lot of nonsense that the American taxpayer shouldn’t be paying for."
“Today, I started the process of terminating the agency’s contracts with the Associated Press, Reuters, & the Agence France-Presse. This will save taxpayers about 53 million dollars. The purpose of our agency is to tell the American story. We don’t need to outsource that responsibility to anyone else,” she asserted.
Back in December, Lake had already made clear her political aspirations while speaking at a conference.
Speculation had circulated that, following her loss to U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) in the Arizona Senate race, she might pursue a different political path. Some Republicans even suggested she should challenge Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) in the Republican primary, as Lake was originally from Iowa.
There were also rumors that she would make another bid for governor of Arizona after narrowly losing to Katie Hobbs in the highly contested 2022 race. However, a second attempt appeared less likely, particularly after former President Trump signaled support for conservative candidate Karrin Taylor Robson through a post on Truth Social.
During a speech at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference, Lake was asked about the speculation surrounding her future political endeavors.
“I’m going to Washington, D.C., to help President Trump. That’s what I’m going to do,” she told the audience.
She elaborated, saying, “We’re not where we need to be on elections. And that’s one of the reasons I don’t want to run again, to be honest. Why put yourself through that torture again?”
Earlier in the same month, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Lake would be taking on the role of director for Voice of America, an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government.
Trump stated on his Truth Social platform that Lake would collaborate with the new head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media “to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media. Kari was a beloved News Anchor in Arizona, which supported me by record margins, for over 20 years.”
Axios provided further context, explaining that "VOA was established in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda with unbiased news and information. It’s funded by the government through the U.S. Agency for Global Media. It is governed by a longstanding charter that legally requires the VOA to report 'accurate, objective, and comprehensive' news abroad." The media network broadcasts content in over 40 languages and reaches an estimated weekly audience of 354 million people worldwide.
Following Trump’s announcement, Lake expressed her gratitude on X, saying, “I am honored that President Trump has asked me to lead the Voice of America. @VOANews is a vital international media outlet dedicated to advancing the interests of the United States by engaging directly with people across the globe and promoting democracy and truth.”