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Trump’s Cutoff of Global Broadcasters Shakes Central Europe

Beloved during the Cold War, Radio Free Europe still reports on troubled nations. Plus: Elon Musk’s Tesla miscalculation.

Broadcasters for Radio Free Europe in 1960.
Photographer: Bettmann/Getty Images

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By David Rocks

March 18, 2025 at 1:05 PM EDT

On Friday, the White House said it would cut off funding for the key international broadcasting operations of the US, which counted millions of listeners in Communist-era central Europe. Bloomberg Businessweek’s Europe editor (and a longtime resident of Prague) David Rocks tells us how that news has been received in the Czech capital and beyond. Plus: Musk’s rebranding of Tesla seems unlikely to succeed, and an American drone startup challenges Chinese dominance.

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