NPR Challenges Trump's Funding Cut in Court

National Public Radio, along with three local stations, initiated a legal battle against President Donald Trump on Tuesday by filing a lawsuit. The legal action contests the president's executive decision to slash federal funding, branding it as illegal.

Presented to a Washington federal court, the lawsuit from NPR, Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio, and KUTE, Inc., claims that Trump's mandate to curtail public subsidies for PBS and NPR is a direct infringement on the First Amendment.

Trump's order, issued earlier in the month, demands the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and related federal bodies to halt NPR and PBS funding while identifying indirect public financing sources. The executive order followed accusations of bias in the broadcasters' coverage from the president.

The lawsuit insists that the order targets NPR content disapproved by the president, aiming to suppress the First Amendment rights of public radio stations nationwide. It describes the order as a clear example of retaliation and viewpoint discrimination, hindering NPR's and affiliated stations' rights to expressive association and editorial freedom.

(With inputs from agencies.)