There has recently been growing concern regarding the gap on foreign policy perceptions between the US and Western Europe, as well as violations of freedom of expression within Western Europe. One method that the US government can use to help address this issue would be for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to expand broadcasts into Western Europe. This can be achieved either by expanding Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) to Western Europe or by creating additional news services specifically targeted to the conditions in the nations of the region.
On March 15, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,” which, among other things, called for USAGM to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” This executive order came after there had been calls for eliminating some of these broadcast networks entirely.
press release issued after the executive order was issued noted several massive problems in the agency as it currently exists, including what it describes as “massive national security violations, including spies and terrorist sympathizers and/or supporters infiltrating the agency,” “$100s-of-millions being spent on fake news companies,” and “a product that often parrots the talking-points of America’s adversaries.”
The press release also noted that
[T]his agency is not salvageable. From top-to-bottom [sic] this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer—a national security risk for this nation—and irretrievably broken. While there are bright spots within the agency with personnel who are talented and dedicated public servants, this is the exception rather than the rule.
These news outlets, as they currently exist, were not achieving what Congress created them to do. However, government broadcast outlets are an important public diplomacy tool, and they should be rebuilt so that they can effectively advance their core mission.
The executive order presents an opportunity to completely overhaul those broadcast networks from the ground up. With much of the existing staff removed, those who were helping to advance US public diplomacy goals can be rehired, and new staff can be hired to replace those who were undermining those goals.
President Trump’s nominee to lead USAGM, Brent Bozell, has decades of experience countering leftist media narratives as head of the Media Research Center and would be very effective in reforming USAGM’s broadcast networks. (Disclosure: I worked for the Media Research Center when Brent Bozell was in charge.)
Other officials in the Trump administration have discussed some of the issues in Europe that expanding broadcasts could help to address. Vice President JD Vance has criticized how freedom of expression is treated in Europe. At the Munich Security Conference on February 14th, Vance discussed examples of this, both at the EU level, as well as in Germany, Sweden, and Britain, stating,
Unfortunately, when I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners. I look to Brussels, where EU commissars warn citizens that they intend to shut down social media during times of civil unrest, the moment they spot what they’ve judged to be ‘hateful content,’ or to [Germany] where police have carried out raids against citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist comments online as part of ‘combating misogyny on the internet, a day of action.’ I look to Sweden where two weeks ago the government convicted a Christian activist for participating in Quran burnings that resulted in his friend’s murder. And as the judge in his case, chillingly noted, ‘Sweden’s laws to supposedly protect free expression do not in fact grant,’ and I’m quoting, ‘a free pass to do or say anything without risking offending the group that holds that belief.’ And perhaps most concerningly, I look to our very dear friends, the United Kingdom, where the back slide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular in the crosshairs. A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist, and an army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes. Not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own.
Additionally, there have been European calls for completely banning American social media platforms that do not comply with the EU’s censorship policies. In a January 11 television interview, former European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton called for the social media platform X to be banned in the EU, saying “the law must be enforced in order to protect our democracies in Europe.” In July 2024, when Breton was still Commissioner, the EU charged X for allegedly violating the Digital Services Act.
Having USAGM’s networks broadcast in Western Europe can help to counteract these issues. Back during the Cold War, these networks were instrumental in bringing attention to issues that were being suppressed in Communist countries in Eastern Europe. These networks can help to achieve that same goal today in Western Europe as well.
Zachary Leshin is a former congressional staffer who has worked extensively in foreign policy. He has a Master’s degree in Statecraft and National Security with a track in Public Diplomacy and Strategic Influence from the Institute of World Politics.
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