Department of State instructed diplomatic missions to cancel subscriptions to U.S. and British media

The U.S. Department of State has ordered to cancel all subscriptions to news publications that are not considered critical for operation of diplomatic missions. This was reported by The Washington Post (WP) with reference to an internal document of the department, TASS reported.

The publication notes that such a requirement applies to hundreds of U.S. embassies and consulates around the world and is aimed at reducing costs. According to WP, the order was given to cancel subscriptions primarily to The Economist, The New York Times, Politico, Bloomberg, Associated Press and Reuters. Embassy staff can request to keep their subscriptions, but it must consist of a "single sentence" with the justification that the publication's information is necessary for the safe operation of the diplomatic mission.

According to the newspaper, some diplomats expressed concern about the decision. For example, one anonymous diplomat believes that ending subscriptions, especially to local publications, will deprive embassies and consulates of the information they need to fulfill their mission. "It will jeopardize the lives of Americans abroad because we will be cut off from the sources of news we need on a daily basis," he said.

Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump demanded to return to the country's taxpayers the funds that federal agencies used to pay for subscriptions to the U.S. newspapers Politico, The New York Times and the Associated Press news agency. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously indicated that the U.S. government would cancel subscriptions to Politico at a total cost of about $8 million a year. She stated that the publication was actually subsidized at the expense of American taxpayers. The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is headed by American entrepreneur Elon Musk, has already started canceling payments to the newspaper. Now DOGE has launched auditing the expenditure of U.S. federal agencies on subscriptions to other media.