Good afternoon,

TGIF 🎉 

Before we get to the news, here’s a taste of what’s ahead for all of us this weekend from our weekly ‘Cheers to the Freakin’ Weekend’ section:

What We’re Watching: 

• Mosh: Nonnas ~ Netflix

• Lauren: Porchfest DC 

• Jill: The 26th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to Conan O’Brien ~ Netflix on Sunday

What We’re Reading:

• Mosh: The Donkey Roundup Rocking a Southern California Community ~ WSJ’s Jim Carlton

• Sam: Everything is Tuberculosis ~ John Green

• Lauren: Matriarch ~ Tina Knowles

What We’re Eating:

• Mosh: Graeter's ice cream in Cincinnati

• Jill: Matcha White Chocolate & Sesame Cookies from Dana’s Bakery in honor of National Matcha Day

• Sam: Buba Bureka in West Village, NYC

The Mo News Team

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Trump Call For End Of Federal Funding For NPR and PBS, Alleging Liberal Bias

President Donald Trump issued an executive order late Thursday directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to “cease federal funding” to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) over concerns of left-wing bias. Congress appropriated around $535 million this fiscal year to CPB, a publicly-funded nonprofit that funnels money to the media organizations.

• A fact sheet accompanying the order accuses NPR and PBS of fueling "partisanship and left-wing propaganda," pointing to specific coverage like a Valentines Day feature about queer animals and a Sesame Street town hall on racism. It also cites findings from a former NPR veteran and whistleblower who wrote an explosive op-ed about the lack of registered Republicans in editorial roles.

• It comes after CPB sued the Trump administration on Tuesday after it tried to fire three of the organization’s board members. Public media officials are reportedly weighing legal action against Trump’s recent order, as it’s not clear he has the power to control CPB’s funding.

Congress giveth, and Congress taketh away: This year’s CPB funding was affirmed in a recent stopgap bill passed by the Republican-controlled U.S. House and Senate, to fully fund it through September 30, 2027. The Executive Order can’t alone cut the funding — the White House plans to call for Congress to vote to rescind the allocation.

THE GOP & CPB
Most – but not all – Republicans have opposed CPB funding: nearly every Republican president since Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, has called to defund it.

• In March, NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger were invited to a hearing with the House subcommittee on government efficiency to reassure lawmakers that their coverage is not partisan and their organizations are worth public investment. It was tense.

  • Maher faced tough questioning from Republicans, including being forced to answer to old tweets in which she called Trump a “deranged, racist sociopath.”

WHAT WE PAY
For context, it costs each American, on average, a little over $1.50 a year to fund the CPB — much less than the Brits’ $200 per year to access the BBC. That $ is spread to about 1,500 local stations nationwide, which are then able to do more boots-on-the-ground reporting in their communities.

• Most of public medias’ budgets come from donations and corporate sponsors. Federal funding contributes to just about 8% of the average public radio station budget and roughly 17% for public television stations.

🚨 ONE THING THAT’S ESCALATING

Trump Vows To Revoke Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status, But Can He Do That?

President Trump vowed to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status on Friday, more than a week after the school filed a federal lawsuit against his administration.

If the school's tax-exempt status is revoked — which is determined by the IRS, independent of the president — the university's income would be taxed, and donors would no longer receive tax deductions for their gifts. Most public and private universities are tax-exempted.

• The Impact: "The tax exemption means that more of every dollar can go toward scholarships for students, lifesaving and life-enhancing medical research, and technological advancements that drive economic growth," the university said in a statement.

BEHIND TAX EXEMPTION
Last month, Trump said on Truth Social that Harvard should "be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting 'Sickness?'" — referring to the fact that tax-exempt organizations are banned from political activity.

• But the tax code also prohibits the president and senior officials from directly or indirectly instructing the IRS to conduct or halt audits or investigations.

  • That being said, the president chooses the IRS commissioner. Right now, that's Michael Faulkender — the fourth acting IRS leader in the last four months.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Trump's attack on Harvard is the latest escalation in an ongoing fight between the president and the university, which began when Harvard became the first school to publicly refuse to comply with a list of government demands in April.

• The administration then froze $2 billion in federal funding for the school.

• The university sued in response, arguing that the administration violated its independence and constitutional rights by withholding funds in retaliation.

  • Dozens of faculty members have pledged to donate 10% of their salaries this year to help support the university’s legal fight, totaling an estimated $2.5 million — a drop in the bucket of the $2 billion pulled + billions more the administration says it is reviewing.

Historical context: Decades ago, the IRS revoked Bob Jones University’s tax-exempt status over its segregationist policies, including banning interracial dating. In 1983, the Supreme Court upheld the IRS’s decision, ruling that civil rights enforcement in education is a “fundamental national public policy.”

• The Trump administration may attempt a similar legal argument to challenge Harvard’s tax status, claiming that antisemitism on campus and “DEI” policies violate civil rights protections.

THE REAL CRIMSON?
Trump addressed University of Alabama students Thursday night, declaring, “It is clear to see the next chapter of the American story will not be written by the Harvard Crimson. It will be written by you – The Crimson Tide.”

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 White House seeks sharp spending cuts in 2026 budget proposal (ABC)

📌 Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson condemns Trump rhetoric, attacks on judges (MO NEWS)

📌 Trump administration reaches ‘settlement in principle’ with rioter shot by cop on Jan. 6 (POLITICO)

📌 Trump to rename Veterans Day and VE Day To “Victory Day for World War I” and “Victory Day for World War II” (BBC)

📌 Illinois man sentenced to 53 years in prison for fatally stabbing Palestinian-American child (CNN)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Workers install chimney on Sistine Chapel ahead of Conclave (USA TODAY)

📌 Evacuations in Chile and Argentina after tsunami warning (YAHOO)

📌 German intelligence labels far-right AfD Party as “extremist” (POLITICO)

📌 An Australian woman is on trial for murder by toxic mushrooms (NPR)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 A tariff exemption for cheaper goods from China expired today (CBS)

📌 Trump budget will bring big cuts to science and tech agencies (AXIOS)

📌 The U.S. added 177,000 jobs in April, new report shows (CNN)

📌 Astronomers may have found 9th planet in the solar system (ABC)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Jill Sobule, writer of I Kissed A Girl, has died in a house fire (AP)

📌 Over three years since on-set tragedy, Alec Baldwin’s Rust released (NPR)

📌 Jack Antonoff named ASCAP pop music songwriter of the year (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

📌 Your guide to the 2025 Kentucky Derby, which starts tomorrow (NBC)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… Prince Harry says his father, King Charles, no longer speaks to him because of a fight over who pays for his security — but he still hopes to reconcile with the monarch and other members of the royal family.

In an interview with the BBC on Friday, Harry — who stepped down as a senior royal with his wife Meghan in 2020 amid family infighting and attacks from British tabloids — said he cannot imagine bringing his family, including their two children, back to the UK after losing a court case over his downgraded security arrangements.

Harry added that he does not “know how much longer my father has,” after the 76-year-old announced last year that he has cancer.