FILE PHOTO: Artist Alexei Sergienko walks towards his painting ?Peace to the world" showing a combination of faces of Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, at the Sergienko gallery in Saint Petersburg, Russia March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES/File Photo
President Donald Trump's latest "retreat" showcases his "blind spot" — and is poised to be "filled by the propaganda of our adversaries."
That's according to the Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board, which gave the president another slap on the wrist, this time over his decision to dismantle news agencies that were "created to counter communism and spread the truth in countries where media are controlled by governments that lie about the world."
"President Trump has adopted Ronald Reagan’s 'peace through strength' theme to echo the Gipper’s successful foreign-policy realism. But what Mr. Trump ignores is the idealism that was the other half of Reagan’s message: the promotion of human freedom that undermined dictatorships from within," the board wrote in its editorial Wednesday.
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Trump took significant steps to dismantle several government-funded news agencies. Over the weekend, he signed an executive order to eliminate seven federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and other international broadcasters. More than 1,300 Voice of America employees were placed on administrative leave.
Additionally, grants supporting Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — which serves audiences across Eastern Europe and Ukraine — were terminated.
"This is a retreat in the global war of ideas," the board lamented.
The board later added: "The networks operate in countries where a free media is restricted. Radio Farda delivered news during the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and had two billion views across Instagram in 2024. They also bring sunshine in Russia and eastern Ukraine, where few reporters can operate."
Radio Free Asia, meanwhile, broke "critical stories" about the ethnic cleansing of the Uyghur population in China.
"Mr. Trump understands the leverage of hard military power, but he has no interest in soft power or the war of ideas. It’s a blind spot that will be filled by the propaganda of our adversaries," the board warned.