Voice of America puts journalist on excused absence after anti-Trump X post: report

Voice of America placed one of its highest-profile journalists on an “excused absence” pending a human resources probe over alleged critical comments about President Trump, according to a report.Steve Herman, VOA’s chief national correspondent, was informed of the investigation in a letter last week from the news agency’s governing body, the US Agency for Global Media, the New York Times reported.The government-funded news outlet, which broadcasts to hundreds of millions of people worldwide, told Herman he was being scrutinized due to “social media activity [that] has undermined VOA’s audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA.and its news operations,” according to the letter reviewed by the Times.Herman drew the ire of the Trump administration when he posted a link to a news story on his X account that included a quote from an analyst who was critical of the decision to defund the United States Agency for International Development.Richard Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany who currently serves as a special envoy, angrily wrote in response: “Aren’t you a taxpayer funded ‘reporter’ for @voa? Why are you working against President Trump’s reform plans for the US budget?”Grenell then added that “it isn’t too much to suggest this is treasonous.”“You don’t get to work against the official US government policies while being paid by US taxpayers.

You should be immediately fired,” Grenell wrote.Another veteran White House bureau chief, Patsy Widakuswara, was reassigned to a different beat against her wishes, employees told the Times.Some VOA journalists speculated that the decision was made to ease tensions with the Trump administration, though a broadcaster official who was not authorized to speak publicly denied that claim, according to the Times.The Post has sought comment from VOA, Herman, Widakuswara and the USAGM.VOA’s budget is allocated by Congress and administered by the USAGM, an indepen...