TruthOrFake Logo
TruthOrFake
Fact Check: VOA’s Persian service had been shut down as a part of President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order dismantling U.S.-backed global media.

Fact Check: VOA’s Persian service had been shut down as a part of President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order dismantling U.S.-backed global media.

Published June 14, 2025
ByFactChecker 1.1 avatarFactChecker 1.1
±
VERDICT
Partially True

# Fact Check: "VOA’s Persian service had been shut down as a part of President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order dismantling U.S.-backed global ...

Fact Check: "VOA’s Persian service had been shut down as a part of President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order dismantling U.S.-backed global media."

What We Know

On March 15, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that significantly impacted the Voice of America (VOA) and its parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). This order led to the suspension of operations for many employees, including those working in VOA's Persian service, which primarily serves audiences in Iran (source-1, source-2). Reports indicated that the majority of VOA staff were placed on paid administrative leave, effectively halting broadcasts and operations (source-3, source-4).

Subsequently, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocked the dismantling of VOA, stating that the Trump administration's actions were "arbitrary and capricious" and likely violated federal laws (source-3). Despite this legal intervention, the Persian service had already been affected by the executive order prior to the injunction.

Analysis

The claim that VOA's Persian service was shut down as a result of President Trump's executive order is substantiated by multiple sources. The executive order indeed led to the suspension of operations for the Persian service, along with other language services provided by VOA (source-1, source-6). However, the situation is nuanced due to the subsequent legal actions taken by VOA employees, which resulted in a federal judge blocking the dismantling efforts (source-3).

The reliability of the sources used in this analysis is generally high. The New York Times and NPR are reputable news organizations known for their journalistic standards. The Reuters report also provides a credible account of the events surrounding the executive order. However, it is important to note that the political context surrounding these events may introduce some bias, particularly in the framing of the executive order's implications.

Conclusion

The claim that "VOA’s Persian service had been shut down as a part of President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order dismantling U.S.-backed global media" is Partially True. While the executive order did lead to the suspension of the Persian service, subsequent legal actions have temporarily blocked the dismantling of VOA. Thus, while the service was indeed affected, it has not been permanently shut down, and efforts are underway to restore its operations.

Sources

  1. Voice of America Recalls Staff for Iranian Language News ... (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/us/politics/voice-of-america-farsi-iran-news.html)
  2. Voice of America staff put on leave, Trump ally says agency ... (https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/trump-signs-order-gut-voice-america-other-agencies-2025-03-15/)
  3. Judge blocks Trump administration plans to dismantle ... (https://www.npr.org/2025/04/22/nx-s1-5372530/voa-trump-radio-free-asia)
  4. 'Bloody Saturday' at Voice of America and Radio Free Asia (https://www.npr.org/2025/03/15/nx-s1-5329244/bloody-saturday-voiceofamerica-radio-free-asia-europe-trump-kari-lake)
  5. 如何用收音机（德生）在国内收听BBC、VOA？ - 知乎 (https://www.zhihu.com/question/280270981)
  6. US scrambles to bring back VOA's Persian service amid ... (https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/13/voa-persian-service-iran-israel-00406092)

Have a claim you want to verify? It's 100% Free!

Our AI-powered fact-checker analyzes claims against thousands of reliable sources and provides evidence-based verdicts in seconds. Completely free with no registration required.

💡 Try:
"Coffee helps you live longer"
✓100% Free
✓No Registration
✓Instant Results

Comments

Leave a comment

Loading comments...

More Fact Checks to Explore

Discover similar claims and stay informed with these related fact-checks

Fact Check: VOA’s Persian service had been shut down as a part of President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order.
False
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: VOA’s Persian service had been shut down as a part of President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order.

Detailed fact-check analysis of: VOA’s Persian service had been shut down as a part of President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order.

Jun 14, 2025
Read more →
🔍
Partially True
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: Paul Krugman Paul Krugman We’re All Rats Now Time to take a stand, again, against racism Paul Krugman Jun 30, 2025 Zohran Mamdani’s upset victory in New York’s Democratic primary has created panic in MAGAland. Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trump’s deportation policies, waxed apocalyptic: Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, declared that New York is about to turn into “Caracas on the Hudson.” And Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama basically declared New York’s voters subhuman, saying: These inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And that’s one reason we’re $37 trillion in debt. And it’s time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers that are working very hard every week to pay taxes. These reactions are vile, and they’re also dishonest. Whatever these men may claim, it’s all about bigotry. Miller isn’t concerned about the state of New York “society.” What bothers him is the idea of nonwhite people having political power. Bessent isn’t really deeply worried about Zamdani’s economic ideas. But he feels free, maybe even obliged, to slander a foreign-born Muslim with language he would never use about a white Christian politician, even if that politician were (like some of his colleagues in the Trump administration) a total crackpot. And while Tuberville stands out even within his caucus as an ignorant fool, his willingness to use dehumanizing language about millions of people shows that raw racism is rapidly becoming mainstream in American politics. Remember, during the campaign both Trump and JD Vance amplified the slanders about Haitians eating pets. And now that they’re in office, you can see the resurgence of raw racism all across Trump administration policies, large and small. You can see it, for example, in the cuts at the National Institutes of Health, which are so tilted against racial minorities that a federal judge — one appointed by Ronald Reagan! — declared I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this. You can see it in the renaming of military bases after Confederate generals — that is, traitors who fought for slavery. You can even see it in a change in the military’s shaving policy that is clearly custom-designed to drive Black men — who account for around a quarter of the Army’s new recruits — out of the service. So racism and bigotry are back, big time. Who’s safe? Nobody. Are you a legal immigrant? Well, the Supreme Court just allowed Trump to summarily strip half a million U.S. residents of that status, and only a fool would imagine that this is the end of the story. Anyway, when masked men who claim to be ICE agents but refuse to show identification are grabbing people off the streets because they think those people look illegal, does legal status even matter? Does it even matter if you’re a U.S. citizen? And the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is set to massively increase ICE’s funding — basically setting up a huge national secret police force. Now, maybe you imagine that you yourself won’t suffer from this new reign of bigotry and imagine that everyone you care about is similarly safe. But if that’s what you think, you’re likely to face a rude awakening. I personally don’t have any illusions of safety. Yes, I’m a native-born white citizen. But my wife and her family are Black, and some of my friends and relatives are foreign-born U.S. citizens. Furthermore, I’m Jewish, and anyone who knows their history realizes that whenever right-wing bigotry is on the ascendant, we’re always next in line. Are there really people out there naïve enough to believe MAGA’s claims to be against antisemitism, who can’t see the transparent cynicism and dishonesty? The fact is that the Trump administration already contains a number of figures with strong ties to antisemitic extremists. The Great Replacement Theory, which has de facto become part of MAGA’s ideology, doesn’t just say that there’s a conspiracy to replace whites with people of color; it says that it’s a Jewish conspiracy. So I’m definitely scared of what the many antisemites inside or with close ties to the Trump administration may eventually do. And no, I’m not frightened at all by the prospect that New York may soon have a somewhat leftist Muslim mayor. Anyway, my personal fears are beside the point. Everyone who cares about keeping America America needs to take a stand against the resurgence of bigotry. Because the truth is that we’re all rats now. MUSICAL CODA Discussion about this post Michael Roseman Jun 30 Edited For a while, American bigotry was ashamed of itself. Or pretended to be. Now it runs the government. Reply Share 106 replies Megan Rothery Jun 30 Edited Take a stand - Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some “good trouble” ❤️‍🩹🤍💙 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk Reply Share 31 replies 852 more comments... No posts Ready for more? © 2025 Paul Krugman Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice Start writing Get the app Substack is the home for great culture

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Paul Krugman Paul Krugman We’re All Rats Now Time to take a stand, again, against racism Paul Krugman Jun 30, 2025 Zohran Mamdani’s upset victory in New York’s Democratic primary has created panic in MAGAland. Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trump’s deportation policies, waxed apocalyptic: Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, declared that New York is about to turn into “Caracas on the Hudson.” And Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama basically declared New York’s voters subhuman, saying: These inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And that’s one reason we’re $37 trillion in debt. And it’s time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers that are working very hard every week to pay taxes. These reactions are vile, and they’re also dishonest. Whatever these men may claim, it’s all about bigotry. Miller isn’t concerned about the state of New York “society.” What bothers him is the idea of nonwhite people having political power. Bessent isn’t really deeply worried about Zamdani’s economic ideas. But he feels free, maybe even obliged, to slander a foreign-born Muslim with language he would never use about a white Christian politician, even if that politician were (like some of his colleagues in the Trump administration) a total crackpot. And while Tuberville stands out even within his caucus as an ignorant fool, his willingness to use dehumanizing language about millions of people shows that raw racism is rapidly becoming mainstream in American politics. Remember, during the campaign both Trump and JD Vance amplified the slanders about Haitians eating pets. And now that they’re in office, you can see the resurgence of raw racism all across Trump administration policies, large and small. You can see it, for example, in the cuts at the National Institutes of Health, which are so tilted against racial minorities that a federal judge — one appointed by Ronald Reagan! — declared I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this. You can see it in the renaming of military bases after Confederate generals — that is, traitors who fought for slavery. You can even see it in a change in the military’s shaving policy that is clearly custom-designed to drive Black men — who account for around a quarter of the Army’s new recruits — out of the service. So racism and bigotry are back, big time. Who’s safe? Nobody. Are you a legal immigrant? Well, the Supreme Court just allowed Trump to summarily strip half a million U.S. residents of that status, and only a fool would imagine that this is the end of the story. Anyway, when masked men who claim to be ICE agents but refuse to show identification are grabbing people off the streets because they think those people look illegal, does legal status even matter? Does it even matter if you’re a U.S. citizen? And the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is set to massively increase ICE’s funding — basically setting up a huge national secret police force. Now, maybe you imagine that you yourself won’t suffer from this new reign of bigotry and imagine that everyone you care about is similarly safe. But if that’s what you think, you’re likely to face a rude awakening. I personally don’t have any illusions of safety. Yes, I’m a native-born white citizen. But my wife and her family are Black, and some of my friends and relatives are foreign-born U.S. citizens. Furthermore, I’m Jewish, and anyone who knows their history realizes that whenever right-wing bigotry is on the ascendant, we’re always next in line. Are there really people out there naïve enough to believe MAGA’s claims to be against antisemitism, who can’t see the transparent cynicism and dishonesty? The fact is that the Trump administration already contains a number of figures with strong ties to antisemitic extremists. The Great Replacement Theory, which has de facto become part of MAGA’s ideology, doesn’t just say that there’s a conspiracy to replace whites with people of color; it says that it’s a Jewish conspiracy. So I’m definitely scared of what the many antisemites inside or with close ties to the Trump administration may eventually do. And no, I’m not frightened at all by the prospect that New York may soon have a somewhat leftist Muslim mayor. Anyway, my personal fears are beside the point. Everyone who cares about keeping America America needs to take a stand against the resurgence of bigotry. Because the truth is that we’re all rats now. MUSICAL CODA Discussion about this post Michael Roseman Jun 30 Edited For a while, American bigotry was ashamed of itself. Or pretended to be. Now it runs the government. Reply Share 106 replies Megan Rothery Jun 30 Edited Take a stand - Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some “good trouble” ❤️‍🩹🤍💙 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk Reply Share 31 replies 852 more comments... No posts Ready for more? © 2025 Paul Krugman Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice Start writing Get the app Substack is the home for great culture

Jul 20, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Trump is now denying retirement pay for transgender service members after expelling them from military
Partially True
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: Trump is now denying retirement pay for transgender service members after expelling them from military

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Trump is now denying retirement pay for transgender service members after expelling them from military

Aug 11, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Trump-era cuts to the National Weather Service worsened the Texas floods.
Partially True

Fact Check: Trump-era cuts to the National Weather Service worsened the Texas floods.

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Trump-era cuts to the National Weather Service worsened the Texas floods.

Jul 11, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Six Secret Service agents punished over Trump assassination attempt
True

Fact Check: Six Secret Service agents punished over Trump assassination attempt

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Six Secret Service agents punished over Trump assassination attempt

Jul 20, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Patsy Widakuswara is one of the lead plaintiffs in VOA’s lawsuit against the Trump administration.
True

Fact Check: Patsy Widakuswara is one of the lead plaintiffs in VOA’s lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Patsy Widakuswara is one of the lead plaintiffs in VOA’s lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Jun 14, 2025
Read more →
Explore All Fact Checks