Originally published in our In Vivo newsletter, we are republishing his testimony today.
— Warsaw, April 8, 2025
At the end of January, I received an email from an organization I work with. It was titled "Grant Suspended".
I have been working for a liberal NGO called Krytyka Polityczna for 15 years. Since 2002, we have been defending democracy, equality, and freedom of expression. These subjects do not generate tremendous enthusiasm, and those who want to provide financial support for this cause are therefore few and far between. Fortunately, we have found a few major foundations and international organizations willing to fund us.
Some of these funds came from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). But with a single signature, the new American president, Donald Trump, suspended this support, or "suspended it for 90 days", in January. We now know that this suspension is not temporary; this support will not be renewed.
I didn't expect a Trump decision to affect me, my colleagues, and the media I know and appreciate in Europe so quickly.
The email I read that memorable Saturday in January contained a brief and laconic message: "I'm writing to you today to tell you some very difficult news. We no longer have access to funding for our work and must pause all our activities funded by U.S. government resources".
Concretely, what did that mean? It meant that at the moment I was reading the sentence "suspension of your subsidy effective January 24, 2025", we would have already had to halt our operations the day before.
This difficult news worried and frightened me. Would we have to shut down a single project? Multiple ones? I quickly realized this was only the beginning, and that two days later, on Monday, we would suspend other activities.
But we had already commissioned texts from authors, and we had to pay them. The texts were then translated, so we also had to pay the translators. We couldn't simply stop honoring our obligations. There was no way to write to everyone saying something like: "Our apologies, Trump is no longer supporting us, so you won't be paid for your work".
On Sunday, January 26, I met with representatives from several independent European media outlets. The meeting took place in Warsaw, where I live and work. We had dinner together, and on Monday we started working on another international project.
I couldn't help talking extensively about Trump's decision. New information started circulating. I learned that a Kiev newsroom had just lost its funding. Another organization was laying off employees, and another had suspended a media support program.
The same fear that had paralyzed me on Saturday became a motivation to act on Monday. I wrote to the readers and subscribers of Krytyka Polityczna to explain to them what was happening. I asked them for help.
People responded incredibly. We started receiving donations. Not enough to fill the hole in our budget, but it gave me a boost of energy.
On the other hand, on social media, things spiraled out of control. Haters came out of nowhere. Some accusing us of jumping on the American bandwagon, others gloating that we were on the brink of collapse. Even Elon Musk joined the conversation: greetings, he wrote sarcastically. Truth be told, it made me even more determined to push forward.
« It would be good if Donald Trump's suspension of USAID reignited the debate over cultural funding programs in Poland », wrote a friend of mine who is a journalist and editor in Poland. « Or perhaps the European Union should consider supporting independent social, cultural, and media organizations more? »
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) explains that: « According to 2023 USAID data, the agency supported and funded training for 6,200 journalists, assisted 707 non-state media outlets, and supported 279 civil society organizations working to strengthen independent media. The 2025 foreign aid budget allocated some 268 million dollars (approximately 261 million euros) by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information ».
In RSF's report, these journalists and media outlets are merely numbers. But to me, they are colleagues, excellent authors and editors who are dedicated to fact-checking and informing people. Without their work, we would be left in the dark.
