By Tom Fowdy
Last week Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively freezing the media outlets "Voice of America" (VoA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA). The outlets, which would be condemned as propaganda outlets if they were any other country, are designed to push US narratives, ideology, and political goals to the world, with these organizations especially targeting China. RFA after all, pushes broadcasting in a number of languages designed to reach sensitive areas in China's territory, such as for example Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong. From the old war era, RFA, then emphasized "Radio Free Europe" was always known as a political weapon against the Soviet Union.
It is no surprise that Trump's actions have been lauded in Chinese media which have effectively celebrated the demise of such outlets. Like his demolition of USAID, the suspension of these outlets is seen as a critical blow to US soft power and influence operations abroad, placing them at a significant disadvantage in the war of narratives. This of course is a highly unusual move for an administration filled with aggressive China hawks, such as Marco Rubio, who is moving to dismantle the One China Policy completely, as an example, and determined to turn the focus of US foreign policy towards containing Beijing by ending the war in Ukraine. So why is Trump doing this, what is going on?
As it were before with USAID the answer again is the struggle over domestic partisan politics, rather than foreign policy, which is of course distracting the Trump administration's priorities. Trump is intent on dismantling all US executive-based organizations and structures that he deems to be detrimental to him on a domestic level, irrespective of US foreign policy. One might describe it as a soft purge of opposition. Trump himself has decried Voice of America as "woke" and is intolerant of it not because it is critical of China, but because it pushes values and narratives not in line with his administration. You also have individuals such as Elon Musk exerting influence behind the scenes who are determined to cut back government waste and overspending, which on his behalf is a purely ideological endeavor coming from Libertarian-leaning ideas.
If Trump wants to create narratives or organizations dedicated to criticizing China, then it is important to remember that he will only accept it given that they push narratives favorable to him alone. Donald Trump is a transactional, pragmatic, and self-interested man who cannot truly said to have an "ideology" in clear-cut terms, which is what distinguishes his behavior from the classical American NeoConservatives who often abhor him on value-based terms. Trump believes most strongly in himself, and for those around him, in loyalty to himself, so any external organization that is not "Trump loyalist" in the domestic political scene, especially the media, is going to be viewed as suspect and subjugated to his will where possible.
This of course does not mean Trump is beyond the idea of having media organisations dedicated to criticising China. Instead, as the above might suggest, he wants to create Trump-centric media that sings praises of him and his administration. The idea of a liberal-centric VOA and RFA which is critical of Beijing and others, but pushes domestic narratives about America that are unfavorable to him, is not acceptable. Remember, as I've also stated before, in these next four years his overwhelming and most important goal will be to shift US politics permanently. The President is undertaking a mini "cultural revolution" of his own whereby he seeks to eradicate the "four olds" of the legacy status quo in the United States and make it as difficult as possible for the democrats to roll back his agenda should they retake office after he is gone. Therefore, he has absolutely no qualms about destroying media organizations such as VoA, even if it is to America's short-term advantage because at home liberalism is seen as the true enemy, and not so much China. I believe there is a possibility these organizations could be reconstituted in Trump administration lines, but they will absolutely be very different from how we once knew them.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Tom Fowdy:
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