华盛顿——总统唐纳德·特朗普星期五说，他不允许五角大楼削减对军方独立报纸《星条旗报》的资助，这实际上阻止了国防领导人本月关闭该报的计划。
特朗普在推特上写道:“在我的监督下，美国不会削减对《星报》杂志的资助。”"它将继续成为我们伟大军队的一个极好的信息来源!"
特朗普在推特上反驳了新的指控，称在一战中阵亡的军人是“失败者”和“冤大头”法国2018年。这些评论首先由《大西洋月刊》报道，并由美联社证实。这些评论为特朗普此前公开诋毁美国军队和军人家庭的行为提供了新的证据。在离选举日不到两个月的时候，这些评论向他的民主党对手乔·拜登提出了一个新的竞选议题。
国防部已下令该报在9月30日前停止出版，并在1月底解散该组织。在最近给《条纹报》的一份备忘录中，这一命令是在五角大楼今年早些时候从国防部预算中削减该报1550万美元经费之后发出的。这也反映了特朗普政府对媒体和媒体成员更广泛的敌意。
特朗普的白宫在周五之前没有公开反对五角大楼关闭该报的计划，尽管这份报纸已经在酝酿之中，公开报道了几个月，也在总统的预算请求中。然而，周五下午，特朗普努力巩固自己作为国家军队坚定支持者的声誉。
他周五在椭圆形办公室说:“我为军队做的比任何人都多。”
据称，特朗普是在前往法国的途中，在前往爱思恩-马恩美国公墓的途中对战争死难者发表评论的法国2018年11月。
五角大楼对特朗普的推特没有立即置评，也没有评论它可能如何影响斯珀最终关闭该报的计划。
几个月来，国会议员一直反对这一拆除行动。参议员们本周致信国防部长马克·埃斯珀，敦促他恢复拨款。这封由包括共和党和民主党在内的15名参议员签署的信还警告斯珀，在继续资助联邦政府的临时决议生效期间，法律禁止国务院取消预算项目。
参议员们在信中说:“星条旗是我们国家新闻自由的一个重要组成部分，它为那些负责捍卫这种自由的人们服务。”
共和党参议员林赛·格拉汉姆(Lindsey Graham)在8月下旬给斯珀的另一封信中也表示反对这一举措，称《条纹报》是“全球武装部队成员、他们的家人和文职雇员的一份有价值的‘家乡报纸’。”他补充说，“作为一名在海外服役的老兵，我知道星条旗给读者带来的价值。”
在备忘录中，国务院表示，斯珀是在对整个部门的预算进行审查后做出这一决定的。这份备忘录由美国陆军上校保罗·哈弗斯蒂克(Paul Haverstick)签署，他是五角大楼国防媒体活动代理主管。备忘录称，关闭该报的计划将于9月15日到期，最后一份报纸将于9月30日出版。
备忘录补充称，如果该报继续受到持续决议或“其他不可预见的情况”的资助，那么条纹必须在9月15日前提交一份计划，在下一个预算年度(2021年9月30日)结束时关闭。哈弗斯蒂克的备忘录称，在这种情况下，报纸的最后出版日期将根据预算或其他情况决定。
条纹监察员厄尼·盖茨(Ernie Gates)上周五对美联社(Associated Press)表示，关闭该报“将是对一个独一无二的第一修正案组织的致命干涉和永久审查，该组织几代人以来一直可靠地为美国军队服务。”
第一份名为《星条旗》的报纸是在1861年内战期间非常简短地出版的，但这份报纸在第一次世界大战期间开始连续出版。战争结束后，出版工作结束，直到1942年第二次世界大战期间才重新开始，提供由部队专门为作战部队撰写的战时新闻。
尽管该报得到了国防部的资助，但它在编辑方面是独立的，并以印刷和数字形式向世界各地的军队发布。
今年早些时候，五角大楼在提出预算请求时提议削减该文件的资金，这引发了国会议员的愤怒反应。
众议院通过的五角大楼预算包含了发表该论文的资金，但参议院尚未最终确定国防拨款法案。
Trump won't let Pentagon close Stars and Stripes newspaper
WASHINGTON -- PresidentDonald Trumpsaid Friday that he won't allow the Pentagon to cut funding for the military's independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, effectively halting Defense leader's plan to shut the paper down this month.
“The United States of America will NOT be cutting funding to @starsandstripes magazine under my watch,” Trump tweeted. “It will continue to be a wonderful source of information to our Great Military!”
Trump's tweet came as he fought off new accusations that he called service members killed in World War I “losers” and “suckers” during an event inFrancein 2018. The comments, first reported by The Atlantic and confirmed by The Associated Press, are shining a fresh light on Trump’s previous public disparaging of American troops and military families and they delivered a new campaign issue to his Democratic rival Joe Biden, less than two months from Election Day.
The Defense Department has ordered the paper to halt publication by Sept. 30, and dissolve the organization by the end of January. The order, in a recent memo to Stripes, follows the Pentagon's move earlier this year to cut the $15.5 million in funding for the paper from the Defense Department budget. And it is a reflection of the Trump administration's broader animosity for the media and members of the press.
The Trump White House hadn't spoken out against the Pentagon plan to close the paper before Friday, even though it's been in the works and publicly written about for months and was in the president's budget request. Friday afternoon, however, Trump worked to shore up his reputation as a staunch supporter of the nation's armed services.
“I’ve done more for the military than almost anyone else,” he said Friday in the Oval Office.
Trump was alleged to have made the comments about the war dead as he was set to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery during a trip toFrancein November 2018.
The Pentagon had no immediate comment on Trump's tweet or how it may affect Esper's plan to ultimately shut down the paper.
Members of Congress have objected to the defunding move for months. And senators sent a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper this week urging him to reinstate the money. The letter, signed by 15 senators — including Republicans and Democrats — also warns Esper that the department is legally prohibited from canceling a budget program while a temporary continuing resolution to fund the federal government is in effect.
“Stars and Stripes is an essential part of our nation's freedom of the press that serves the very population charged with defending that freedom,” the senators said in the letter.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in a separate letter to Esper in late August, also voiced opposition to the move, calling Stripes “a valued ‘hometown newspaper’ for the members of the Armed Forces, their families, and civilian employees across the globe.” He added that “as a veteran who has served overseas, I know the value that the Stars and Stripes brings to its readers.”
In the memo, the department says Esper made the decision as a result of his department-wide budget review. Signed by Army Col. Paul Haverstick, acting director of the Pentagon's Defense Media Activity, the memo says plans to close the paper are due on Sept. 15 and the last newspaper is to be published on Sept. 30.
The memo adds that if the paper continues to be funded by either a continuing resolution “or other unforeseen circumstances” then Stripes must submit a plan by Sept. 15 to shut down at the end of the next budget year, Sept. 30, 2021. Haverstick’s memo says that in that case, the last date for publication of the newspaper will be determined based on budget or other circumstances.
The Stripes ombudsman, Ernie Gates, told The Associated Press on Friday that shutting the paper down “would be fatal interference and permanent censorship of a unique First Amendment organization that has served U.S. troops reliably for generations.”
The first newspaper called Stars and Stripes was very briefly produced in 1861 during the Civil War, but the paper began consistent publication during World War I. When the war was over, publication ended, only to restart in 1942 during World War II, providing wartime news written by troops specifically for troops in battle.
Although the paper gets funding from the Defense Department, it is editorially independent and is delivered in print and digitally to troops all over the world.
The Pentagon proposed cutting the paper's funding when making its budget request earlier this year, triggering angry reactions from members of Congress.
The House-passed version of the Pentagon budget contains funding for the paper's publication, but the Senate has not yet finalized a defense funding bill.
