ISTANBUL 

The US government has spent a total of $60 million on subscriptions to The New York Times and The Associated Press, according to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) Live Tracker, which revealed the figures Monday.

The tracker, which provides updates on daily savings based on the department’s statements, showed that canceled New York Times subscriptions account for $40 million, while Associated Press subscriptions total $20 million.

It also revealed that canceled Politico subscriptions amounted to $500,000.

These revelations follow criticism from tech billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk, who has accused certain media outlets of receiving payments from federal institutions, particularly agencies such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Musk recently shared a post claiming that Politico had received $8.1 million from USAID, a claim the publication later denied.

Reacting to reports of payments to The Associated Press, Musk wrote, "Not for long. This is obviously a huge waste of taxpayer money!" He also took aim at The New York Times, calling it "government-funded media."

In response, The New York Times stated that the funds received were payments for government subscriptions, totaling less than $2 million last year.

According to USA Spending, an official government website tracking federal expenditures, other major US media organizations, including Bloomberg, have also received payments from various federal institutions.

While the details of these payments remain unclear, records show that the transactions fall under different budget categories across multiple agencies.

USAID has historically provided funding to a range of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including media organizations, to support its mission of promoting global development and humanitarian assistance.

However, under directives from Musk, the Trump administration initiated the shutdown of USAID operations both domestically and internationally, leading to widespread disruptions in global aid programs and affecting numerous NGOs and media organizations that relied on USAID funding.