U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Trump Administration, by Bill Wanlund
Kari Lake, once President Trump’s choice as VOA Director, has been detailed to the State Department, The Washington Post reported April 9, citing anonymous sources. According to one Post source, the new mission of the former Fox News journalist and unsuccessful Arizona political candidate will include coordinating the Administration’s efforts to “scale back” the broadcast components of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) “to their statutory minimum.”
Lake’s experience in the Administration has seen her whipsawed between extreme positions as VOA and USAGM’s fortunes changed. In December, after Trump had proposed her for the VOA job, Lake said, “Under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America’s achievements worldwide.” AZCentral, an Arizona news website, reported the Post article, and also noted that on Feb. 25, she said, “I’m hoping that the journalists at VOA are looking forward to having me there because I believe we will accomplish great things together.”
However, less than three weeks later, “Lake told employees at the VOA to check their email as part of an executive order (signed the day before) placing about 1,000 journalists on indefinite leave.” AZCentral, arguably not a Lake fan, wrote, “Through all of the upheaval, Lake has remained a reliable cheerleader for Trump’s agenda, even as it has lurched from one position to another.”
So far there has been no public announcement concerning Lake’s new State Department duties beyond hollowing out USAGM – and even that role has an uncertain future because of several pending legal challenges to the action.
Myanmar could use some American soft power these days. The military government of that perpetually troubled SE Asian land keeps a tight grip on the information that enters and leaves the country – “controlling the narrative,” it’s called. VOA and Radio Free Asia had been helping balance that narrative, with objective media coverage, in Burmese, of both foreign and domestic news. Meanwhile, USAID grants were helping local media institutions develop and strengthen their economic and editorial independence. So, when those soft power stalwarts suddenly pulled up stakes earlier this year, Myanmar’s independent media was at loose ends - and that was before last month’s earthquake. Jon Allsop, editor of the Columbia Journalism Review’s newsletter, “Media Today,” offers up a real-time example of how the Trump Administration’s erasures of two American soft power stars – USAID and Radio Free Asia - impact a small country when disaster strikes. Read about what Allsop calls Myanmar’s “triple whammy” here.
Martha Bayles is a professor of humanities at Boston College who writes frequently about the arts, media, cultural policy, and U.S. Public Diplomacy. Her article “Piled High with Difficulty,” about the importance of VOA and other U.S. global broadcasters, appeared in Discourse magazine April 4.
Student visas: Inside Higher Education reports April 10 on the “explosion” of student visa revocations with a map identifying the U.S. schools concerned. The article also contains links to IHE’s other recent coverage of issues currently confronting international students.
New York Times columnist David Brooks, writing April 3 about President Trump’s tariff plans and their effect “on the American psyche and the American soul,” put up a solid defense of international cultural and intellectual exchange, under the headline, “How to Destroy What Makes America Great.” Brooks wrote, “(Trump’s) trade policies obstruct not only the flow of goods but also the flow of ideas, contacts, technology and friendships as well... He assaults the institutions and communities most involved in international exchange: scientific researchers, universities, the diplomatic corps, foreign aid agencies and international alliances like NATO.”
Kicked out, AFSA kicks back: The main conference room at the headquarters of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) was dark,but piled high with boxes and furniture last week. It had come from AFSA’s office in the State Department, which had been hastily cleared and its contents carted a block or so to Association headquarters - the result of a March 27 Trump Administration decision to remove AFSA from its role as the union for State employees.
The government’s rationale? As an agency that deals with national security issues, State may be exempt from the law requiring most government agencies to engage in collective bargaining with employees’ unions when necessary to resolve disputes.
AFSA is fighting back. “Let’s be clear,” said Association President Amb. Tom Yazdgerdi, “This isn’t about security. This administration is trying to punish us for defending the Foreign Service, for pushing back on reckless personnel policies, and for daring to speak out.” AFSA filed a lawsuit April 7 challenging the President’s power to remove AFSA’s collective bargaining authority.”
Speaking of litigation, the National Immigration Project filed suit April 7 against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement' (ICE) on behalf of two anonymous students currently living in Southern California. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, challenges ICE's “abrupt and unlawful termination of their student status.” An NIE press release announcing the suit is here.
Bill Wanlund is a PDCA Board Member, retired Foreign Service Officer, and freelance writer in the Washington, DC, area. His column, Worth Noting, appears occasionally in the PDCA Update and the PDCA Blog; it seeks to address topics of interest to PDCA members.