Politico USAID: ‘Politico’ says it never received govt subsidy as Donald Trump, Elon Musk double down on USAID

President Donald Trump, DOGE chief Elon Musk Thursday doubled down on Politico claiming that it received millions of dollars from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which the new administration wants to shut down as Politico issued a statement claiming that Politico has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies.
CNN reported that Politico’s leaders, Goli Sheikholeslami and John Harris in a memo to staff Wednesday, denied that the media company has received any funding from the government. “POLITICO has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies — not one cent, ever, in 18 years,” the news outlet’s leaders wrote in the memo.
Politico acknowledged government agencies subscribe to its pro service just like corporations do. “The value of this journalism is clear, as evidenced by our subscription re-enlistment rates,” Politico’s leaders said. The news outlet said it welcomes conversations with government subscribers “and are confident that most will see the continued value.”
After conservation commentators Wednesday pounced on Politico claiming that it received funds from USAID, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the government would cancel $8 million worth of Politico subscriptions.
Donald Trump Thursday morning raged against Politico and made a long post naming Politico. “Looks like billions of dollars have been stolen at USAID, and other agencies, much of it going to the fake news media as a ‘payoff’ for creating good stories about the Democrats. The Left Wing Rag known as ‘Politico’, seems to have received $8,000,000. Did the New York Times receive money??? Who else did??? This could be the biggest scandal of them all, perhaps the biggest in history! The Democrats can’t hide from this one. Too big, too dirty!” Trump posted in all caps.
News agency Associated Press also issued a statement as the same allegations were raised against it. In a statement, the AP said that the federal government has “long been an AP customer — through both Democratic and Republican administrations.”
“It licenses AP’s nonpartisan journalism, just like thousands of news outlets and customers around the world,” the AP said. “It’s quite common for governments to have contracts with news organizations for their content.”