'Money should be taken back by DOGE': Trump uses conspiracy theory to target Politico

President Donald Trump turned his attention to two conspiracy theories on Thursday morning when he demanded that Politico and former Democratic Rep. Stacey Abrams (GA Stacey Abrams give back money they received from the government.

"Whatever happened to the $8,000,000 given by our 'government' to Radical Left Politico magazine, or whatever you would call it," asked Trump in a Truth Social post.

The claim that the White House had given millions to Politico is a conspiracy theory that spread quickly in early February.

“I looked at these contracts and I have my own fun fact,” Byron Tau, an AP investigative reporter, said via X. “This is occurring because agencies (not just USAID) are buying subscriptions to Politico’s Pro editorial product, not because Politico is getting grants or other federal funding.”

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“POLITICO has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies — not one cent, ever, in 18 years,” the outlet’s leaders, Goli Sheikholeslami and John Harris, wrote in a memo.

Trump claims he wants his money back.

"Owned by wealthy guys, this money should be taken back by DOGE, ASAP," Trump demanded.

Trump also complained that Abrams must turn over billions of dollars to him.

"Also, is Stacey Abrams going to give back the Two Billion Dollars they funneled into her environmental fund just prior to my assuming office. She went from $100 in donations to $2,000,000,000 in just one day? Not bad!!! Get back the money," Trump said.

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution fact-checked, Abrams got no money and had little to do with it.

"Abrams worked as an attorney for a nonprofit organization that, in partnership with four other groups, was awarded the grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year," said the report. "But she didn’t receive any of the money, according to her spokesman and the CEO of one of the groups."

"The money was designated to fund energy-efficient housing upgrades — such as heat pumps and solar panels — in low-income areas nationwide through the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress approved in 2022," said the AJC.

After Trump named her in his address to Congress, Abrams took to X to comment, “I’m proud of my work protecting civil rights & lowering energy costs for Georgians. Someone has to deliver — because Trump is taking our hard-earned money to cut Elon Musk’s taxes."

One CNN host thinks that the administration is attempting to "counterprogram" a bombshell report from The Atlantic about Trump officials who may have discussed classified information in a Signal chat.

"We're being told by our reporters that markets started trending downward. Yes, it appears that the White House is trying to counterprogram this story," said Boris Sanchez on Wednesday afternoon.