# United States: Executive Order 14290 directing an end to federal funding for NPR and PBS, May 2025

Published 2026-09-22. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 3 sources.

Status: in effect, as of 2026-09-22.

What we don't know: The sources cited do not state the order's effect in dollars on individual member stations or the outcome of NPR's and PBS's legal response (as of 2026-09-22).

On May 1, 2025, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed Executive Order 14290, "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media." It directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private non-profit corporation created by the United States Congress in 1967 to distribute federal money to public radio and television, and federal agencies to stop funding NPR and PBS, the country's non-profit public radio and television networks. The order says public funding for news is "not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence." NPR and PBS said the president cannot cut funding that Congress has appropriated to CPB.[1]

- Country: [United States](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/us)
- Where: United States
- Level of government: National
- Tactic: Funding and ownership pressure
- Head of government at the time: [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump)
- Outcome: Unknown. No court ruling on Executive Order 14290 and no final funding figure appears in the sources cited (as of 2026-09-22).
- Era: The 2020s

## What happened

On May 1, 2025, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed Executive Order 14290, titled "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media." An executive order is a written directive through which the president manages the federal government. The order directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and federal agencies to end direct and indirect funding of NPR and PBS. It says the two networks violate the requirement of balanced coverage in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, the United States law that created CPB.[1][2][3][4]

NPR and PBS said CPB is a private, congressionally chartered non-profit and that decisions on federal funding rest with Congress, the national legislature, not with the president. Both said they would contest the order rather than comply voluntarily.[1][2][3][4]

Later in 2025, Congress took separate action on public broadcasting funds, including moves to take back money it had already appropriated to CPB.[1][2][3][4]

Status as of 2026-09-22: In effect. NPR and PBS say the order is not self-executing and have contested it; disputes over CPB funding continued through 2025 through separate action by Congress.[4]

## What reason was given

The order says public funding for news programming is "not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence." The accompanying White House fact sheet said, "Neither entity presents a fair, accurate or unbiased portrayal of current events to tax-paying citizens."[2]

## What changed for reporting

The order directs CPB and federal agencies to stop funding NPR and PBS, whose member stations include smaller rural and tribal stations that rely most heavily on CPB grants for their operating budgets.[3]

## Timeline

- 2025-05-01: United States: Executive Order 14290 directing an end to federal funding for NPR and PBS, May 2025

## Who acted

| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/actors/donald-trump) | ordered | President of the United States |
| [United States Congress](https://thewaronnews.com/actors/congress-of-the-united-states) | other | Federal legislature |

## Outlets and journalists

| Name | Kind | Relation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [NPR](https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/npr) | outlet | affected |
| [PBS](https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/pbs) | outlet | affected |

## Sources

1. Trump's attacks on press freedom escalate: NPR, PBS funding cuts explained. https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/trumps-attacks-on-press-freedom-escalate-npr-pbs-funding-cuts-explained Archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20260917151216/https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/trumps-attacks-on-press-freedom-escalate-npr-pbs-funding-cuts-explained (ACLU, 2025-05-02).
2. Executive Order 14290. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14290 (Wikipedia).
3. Trump says he's ending federal funding for NPR and PBS. They say he can't. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5384790/trump-orders-end-to-federal-funding-for-npr-and-pbs (NPR, 2025-05-02).

## Claims cited

[1] Trump signed Executive Order 14290. Quote: "Executive Order 14290, titled "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media", is an executive order signed by U.S. president Donald Trump on May 1, 2025" Source: Wikipedia. Executive Order 14290. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14290 Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/36, checked 2026-09-22.

[2] The order and White House fact sheet said funding was "corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence" and that NPR and PBS present coverage that is not "fair, accurate or unbiased." Quote: "not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence" Source: Wikipedia. Executive Order 14290. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14290 Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/37, checked 2026-09-22.

[3] The order directs agencies and CPB to stop funding NPR and PBS. Quote: "Neither entity presents a fair, accurate or unbiased portrayal of current events to tax-paying citizens" Source: NPR, 2025-05-02. Trump says he's ending federal funding for NPR and PBS. They say he can't. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5384790/trump-orders-end-to-federal-funding-for-npr-and-pbs Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/38, checked 2026-09-22.

[4] NPR and PBS said the president cannot unilaterally cut CPB's congressionally appropriated funding. Quote: "CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President's authority. Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government." Source: NPR, 2025-05-02. Trump says he's ending federal funding for NPR and PBS. They say he can't. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5384790/trump-orders-end-to-federal-funding-for-npr-and-pbs Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/39, checked 2026-09-22.

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-trump-order-ends-cpb-funding-npr-pbs. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.