President Donald Trump on Thursday laid out a bombshell claim that the Biden administration’s U.S. Department of Defense was engaged in yet another multi-million dollar contract with a major news outlet.
In a brief post on Truth Social, the Republican accused former defense officials of approving a $9 million contract with Reuters, the international outlet that rivals the Associated Press in both size and scope. The deal, according to Trump, involved studying “large scale money deception” though his revelation didn’t contain further information.
“Give the money back, now!” Trump wrote in an all-capitalized reaction to the news.
The discovery comes as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s widespread probe into the inner workings of the federal budget, much of which has been laid bare by leader Elon Musk over the past few weeks. Among the announcements was news of other payments to media outlets like the AP and Politico for what President Trump has claimed was a quid pro quo: dozens of pricey subscription plans in exchange for favorable coverage of Democrats.
Trump doubled down on that accusation in a follow-up post on Thursday.
“DOGE: Why was Politico paid Millions of Dollars for NOTHING. Buying the press??? PAY BACK THE MONEY TO THE TAXPAYERS! How much has the Failing New York Times paid? Is this the money that is keeping it open??? THEY ARE BUYING THE PRESS!” he wrote.
