By Jack Dunn 

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 07: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room at the White House on February 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. Shigeru, who took office in October, is the first Asian leader to visit Trump since he returned to the White House last month.   President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to slash Voice of America. The plan looks to largely dismantle the government-funded media outlet as well as programs like Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.  “This order continues the reduction in the elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary,” reads the order, released late Friday.  In response to the news, nonprofit activist group the Committee to Protect Journalists slammed the order as “outrageous,” and called for members of Congress to defend VOA.  Related Stories Icons representing film, music, books and news connected by AI nodes and lines VIP+ AI Training – Consent & Content: A Special Report Patrick Wilson at the 77th Annual Tony Awards held at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on June 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images) Patrick Wilson on ‘Millers in Marriage’ and Why Two ‘Aquaman’ Movies Were Enough: ‘I Don’t Know Where the Story Would Go’  “It is outrageous that the White House is seeking to gut the Congress-funded agency supporting independent journalism that challenges narratives of authoritarian regimes around the world,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, program director of CPJ. “We call on congressional leaders to protect this critical agency, which provides uncensored news in countries where the press is restricted.”   Popular on Variety Skip Ad       The video player is currently playing an ad. VOA, which has served as a training ground for generations of journalists since 1942, is operated through the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The outlet operates in more than 40 languages, in a mission to bring “accurate, objective news coverage from the U.S. and around the world,” according to the organization’s website.  The executive order states that the agencies listed, which also include the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, must “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”