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Politico has apparently received payments from the government, the White House revealed earlier this week. Donald Trump shared a conspiracy theory on Truth Social regarding the situation, claiming that “billions of dollars have been stolen at USAid” and other agencies as a “payoff” to certain media organizations to create “good stories about the Democrats.” However, the reality was that Politico received a smaller amount of money in subscriptions from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAid), according to multiple outlets. Shortly after the White House revealed the funding news, reports emerged about an apparent hiccup in Politico‘s payroll during the first week of February 2025.
Learn more about the situation about Politico below.
Staff at Politico did not get paid for the latest pay period. The company just sent several emails to employees saying it believes there was a technical error, and is looking into how to fix the issue. pic.twitter.com/PYcWYdbrEC
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) February 4, 2025
What Is ‘Politico’?
Politico is a digital news outlet that covers current events in American politics. It was founded by media executive and banker Robert Albritton in 2007. The digital newspaper famously unveiled the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.
After Trump was elected president for the second time, a memo from the Defense Department ordered Politico to move out of its workspace in the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Politico wasn’t the only media outlet ordered to leave its workspace in the building; NBC News and The New York Times were also told to do the same as part of a new “rotation program.”
What Happened With ‘Politico’s Payroll?
Staffers at Politico were paid late by their employer during the first week of February 2025, according to Fox News. The outlet reported that employees typically receive bi-weekly direct deposit payments every other Tuesday. However, the funds didn’t reach their accounts at the normal time. An anonymous employee told Fox News that management didn’t address the payment issue until 9 a.m. that day and called it a “technical error.” The staffer also claimed that the eventual payments didn’t clear until Wednesday morning.
In response to the payroll hiccup, a spokesperson for Politico told Fox on Wednesday, February 5, “Employees were paid yesterday, there was a technical error that was remedied in a matter of hours.”
Is ‘Politico’ Funded by USAid?
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the public by telling reporters, “I was made aware of the funding from USAid to media outlets, including Politico, who I know has a seat in this room. I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer’s dime will no longer be happening. The DOGE [department of government efficiency] team is working on canceling those payments now.”
According to USAspending.gov, Politico did not receive billions or millions of dollars from USAid alone. However, $44,000 came from USAid out of the total $8 million that Politico got in contracts and subscriptions, multiple outlets including The Dispatch reported.
