CNN
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Politico’s parent company chief has pushed back hard against the exposed right-wing conspiracy theories that have been supported by the Trump administration regarding publications, saying that Politico has never accepted federal funds. I told him.
“Politico has never won a government subsidies or a cent of state funds since it was launched 18 years ago,” Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner said in a still-aerial interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “He says. Döpfner, who owns a 22% stake in the German publishing giant, called Politico a Trump administration claim that USAID funds were “absolutely wrong.”
Döpfner said the fake far-right conspiracy theory that claims Politico received more than $8 million in the USAID fund is a “funny misconception” of the outlet’s business model.
“So people need services, so people pay for it (Politico Pro),” Döpfner said. “It’s not subsidies, it’s capitalism.”
Politico offers much of its content for free, but also offers a premium subscription model, the Politico Pro. Its free product is targeted at a larger audience and premium subscriptions in outlets that offer real-time data and legislative analytics, primarily catering to the private sector and government officials.
Politico Pro currently includes around 5,000 subscribers, about 6% of which are government subscribers, according to Döpfner. And of that 6%, the “small and small percentage” comes from USAID subscribers, he said.
Reporters quickly pointed out that the funds were not federal handouts, but on Wednesday the White House said Trump administration reporter Caroline Leavitt would be able to subscribe to its politics by supporting false narratives. It was announced that it would be cancelled. Levitt said Wednesday that taxpayers “essentially subsidize politics regarding the dime of American taxpayers.”
“The Doge team is currently working on cancelling these payments,” Leavitt said Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, President Trump perpetuated even more misinformation and posted it on his true social platform. About the Democrats. ”
Döpfner rejected the falsehood: “All of this is not a scandal,” he told Zacharia.
If Politico’s premium subscriptions no longer help the government make it efficient, Döpfner said the government has the privilege to end payments, saying it “it’s the free market.” . However, he also said it is important to remember that federal employees are subscribed to other news outlets.
“They also subscribe to the cable network or to Bloomberg terminals,” says Döpfner. “So, all businesses in Bloomberg, or any businesses that have contracts with government officials, will be considered subsidized.”
That may be changing, but it remains to be seen whether the government will follow the threat of cancellation. Since Trump’s Morning Truth Social Post, the White House has directed the General Services Bureau to “cancel all media contracts today,” calling Politico, BBC, E&E News and Bloomberg by name, according to Axios It’s there.
The emails obtained by Axios specify GSA instructions, but it is unclear whether other agencies have received similar instructions.
Döpfner is no stranger to political attacks. Axel Springer, which acquired Politico for over $1 billion in 2021, owns several other media publishers, including Politico Europe, Business Insider and a handful of German publications. In Europe, the media holdings of German publishing majors are known for their conservative leans.
“In the US, we are perceived as part of a leftist plot,” Dopfner said. “For me, that’s important. As long as you’re criticised on the left, as long as you’re criticised on the right, that’s fine. I’ll be worried when only one party criticises you.”
But they are worried that the outlet (the favorite of the aisle beltways that playbooks consider a must-read by many in the government, is facing unfounded attacks. Thursday’s Politico’s Playbook PM In the edition of the outlet continued to straighten the records.
“We have never received government funding. There are no grants, grants, handouts. It’s not a dime in 18 years,” writes Bethany Irvine.
Irvine writes that government agencies subscribe to Politico Pro do so through a standard procurement process, calling the move “trade” and “unfinanced.”
