President Trump said Friday his administration won’t be cutting funding to the Stars and Stripes.
The United States of America will NOT be cutting funding to @starsandstripes magazine under my watch. It will continue to be a wonderful source of information to our Great Military!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2020
Earlier this week, lawmakers on Capitol Hill pushed back on requests from the Pentagon to cut funding for the independent military newspaper.
The money was left out of the department’s annual budget request this year and officials on Capitol Hill said there was a request to cease publishing Stars and Stripes by September 30 and “completely dissolve” the paper by the end of January.
USA Today reported on Friday that the Pentagon circulated a memo saying the paper will implement a shutdown plan by September 15.
The announcement comes as the president comes under fire after a report from the Atlantic accused him of disrespecting fallen troops and sparking a backlash from his critics.
The report cited four anonymous sources “with firsthand knowledge” that claimed the president canceled his visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in November 2018 by falsely blaming rain and a helicopter that couldn’t fly. They also claimed Mr. Trump called the fallen soldiers “losers” and “suckers.”
Mr. Trump categorically denied the accusations repeatedly Thursday night and Friday.
• Mike Glenn and Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
