‘It’s capitalism’: Politico CEO responds to Trump criticism over gov’t subscriptions

• President Donald Trump criticized news outlet Politico for taking subscriptions from government agencies. He accused the outlet of skewing coverage based on the subscriptions but did not provide evidence to back his claim.
• Government spending data shows Politico received $8 million in subscriptions for its Politico Pro service, a separate offering that provides policy information.
• Politico’s CEO and editor-in-chief released a statement saying the outlet has never taken government funding but engaged in standard business transactions with agencies.

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President Donald Trump expressed concern about government subscriptions to news outlets in a post to his site Truth Social on Thursday, Feb. 6. He singled out a claim that political news outlet Politico received $8 million from the government.

Trump did not add details to back up his claims. However, he did accused Politico of participating in a widespread conspiracy tying subscription payments to the tone of its news coverage.

The president said it “could be the biggest scandal of them all, perhaps the biggest in history.”

Government spending records show that in 2024, agencies paid more than $8 million in subscriptions for Politico Pro. It’s a paid service the outlet markets to business and government agencies offering information on policy. The service also tracks some of the more minute details of law and policy proposals.

Later on Thursday, Axios obtained an email outlining an order the White House sent to the Government Services Administration to cancel all of the agency’s media contracts as well as its subscriptions to Politico, the BBC and Bloomberg.

Politico has denied any wrongdoing and allegations that its subscribers shape its coverage. In a statement, Politico’s editor-in-chief and CEO explained the difference between Politico, the journalism outlet, and the subscription service Politico Pro.

“Politico is a privately owned company. We have never received any government funding — no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Not one dime, ever, in 18 years,” the statement read.

The statement goes on to say that with Politico Pro, “Government agencies that subscribe do so through standard public procurement processes — just like any other tool they buy to work smarter and be more efficient. This is not funding. It is a transaction — just as the government buys research, equipment, software and industry reports.”

In a forthcoming interview with CNN, Politico’s head added, “It’s not subsidies, it’s capitalism.”

While President Trump called Politico a “left-wing ‘rag’” in his post, the outlet offered a largely favorable assessment of the president in its flagship newsletter, Playbook, on Thursday, Feb. 6.

In an entry published an hour before Trump’s post saying the outlet gave Democrats favorable coverage, Playbook author Jack Blanchard led his set of takeaways about Trump’s new term by writing, “Has any incoming administration been better prepared for power? Never mind the first 100 days — Trump’s team had a battleplan for the first 100 hours, and they executed it with stunning efficacy.”

The outlet ended the entry on Trump with a line saying that the president “still makes dumb mistakes.”