WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to cut public funding for NPR and PBS, accusing the news outlets of being biased in his latest attack on traditional media.

Trump has long had an antagonistic relationship with most mainstream news media, previously describing them as the `enemy of the people`.

A notable exception is the powerful conservative broadcaster Fox News, some of whose hosts have taken on major roles in his administration.

National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) are only partly funded by US taxpayers through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and rely heavily on private donations.

Trump in his executive order instructed the CPB board of directors and all executive departments and agencies `to cease federal funding` for NPR and PBS.

He added that `neither entity presents a fair, accurate or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens`.

The CPB budget has already been approved by Congress through 2027, which raises questions about the scope of Trump`s order. Politico magazine described the order as `the White House`s biggest escalation yet in its assault on the media` and said it would likely be challenged in court.

`Subsidisation of biased media` The White House published on Thursday a fact sheet titled `President Donald J. Trump Ends the Taxpayer Subsidisation of Biased Media`.

It said that NPR and PBS `have fuelled partisanship and left-wing propaganda with taxpayer dollars, which is highly inappropriate and an improper use of taxpayers`money`.

To support this accusation, the document listed a number of claims about the two media outlets, which it said receive `tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year`.

For example, that `over a six-month period, PBS News Hour used versions of the term `far-right` 162 times, but `far-left` only six times`, the White House said.

It cited research from an unnamed source that showed that congressional Republicans have received far more negative media coverage than Democrats.

The fact sheet also listed an NPR feature about `queer animals`, and on PBS the appearance of a `drag queen` on a kid`s show and a movie `which celebrates a transgender teen`s transition`.

`Alarming deterioration` of press freedom Meanwhile, media rights group RSF warned on Friday about `an alarmingdeterioration in press freedom` in the United States under Trump as well as `unprecedented` difficulties for independent journalists around the world.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, which has been tracking press freedom for the last 23 years, said its main index had fallen to its lowest-ever level.

`For the first time in the history of the index, the conditions for practising journalism are poor in half of the world`s countries and satisfactory in fewer than one in four,` an annual review of media freedom globally by the charity concluded.

RSF editorial director Anne Bocande highlighted the role of economic pressures in undermining fact-based reporting, with many independent outlets having to close because of funding difficulties.

Although spending on online advertising was still rising hitting $247.3 billion in 2024, according to RSF a growing share is captured by online giants Facebook, Google or Amazon rather than media companies.

`When journalists are impoverished, they no longer have the means to resist the enemies of the press those who champion disinformation and propaganda,` Bocande said in a statement.

`Authoritarian shift` RSF highlighted how Trump had made difficult conditions worse by axing US financial support for state-backed broadcasters such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), as well as US foreign development aid that assisted media outlets overseas.

After a fall of 11 places in 2024, the United States declined another two to 57th place on the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, one behind formerly war-torn Sierra Leone in west Africa.

The index, calculated according to the number of violent incidents involving journalists and other data compiled by experts, was topped by oil-rich Norway for the ninth year in a row.

Estonia and the Netherlands were second and third.

`In the United States, Donald Trump`s second term as president has led to an alarming deterioration in press freedom, indicative of an authoritarian shift in government,` RSF said. `His administration has weaponised institutions, cut support for independent media, and sidelined reporters.

RSF also again highlighted the plight of Palestinian journalists seeking to report on Israel`s devastating bombardment of Gaza. Israel meanwhile had dropped a further 11 places to 112th and `continues to repress its own news media`.-AFP