Court calls for NPR to get $36million in government funding after Donald Trump row

Trump had previously said he would “love to” defund NPR and PBS because he believed they were biased in favour of the Democrats.

The new settlement states that both NPR and CPB agree that the executive order is unconstitutional, and that the latter won’t enforce it unless a court orders it to do so.

Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, said the settlement was “a victory for editorial independence and a step toward upholding the First Amendment rights of NPR and the public media system”.

Patricia Harrison, the corporation’s CEO, called it “an important moment for public media.”

NPR has accused the CPB of violating its First Amendment free speech rights when it moved to cut off its access to grant money appropriated by Congress. NPR has also accused Trump of wanting to punish it for the content of its journalism.

In April, the CPB’s board initially approved a three-year, approximately $36million extension of a grant for NPR to operate the “interconnection” satellite system for public radio.

NPR has been operating and managing the Public Radio Satellite System since 1985.

However, the CPB reversed course amid growing pressure from the President’s administration, according to NPR.

It added that the agency redirected federal interconnection funds away from NPR to an entity that didn’t exist, which wasn’t statutorily authorised to receive the money. CPB’s attorneys denied that the agency had retaliated against NPR to appease Trump – arguing that NPR’s claims were factually and legally meritless.

The settlement does not end a lawsuit in which NPR is seeking to block any implementation or enforcement of the POTUS’ executive order. US District Judge Randolph Moss is scheduled to preside over the next hearing for the case next Thursday (December 4).

Over the summer, Gwar vocalist Blöthar The Berserker hit out at the proposed cuts to public media in the US. Last week, it was announced that John Oliver is auctioning off a bidet signed by Blöthar to raise funds for public broadcasting.

In other news, Trump has said he still intends to sue the BBC for “between $1billion and $5billion”, despite their apology over an edit of his speech from Panorama.

The President is also reportedly pushing for a revival of the Rush Hour franchise.