
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal government payments for subscriptions to media outlets have become the latest target of President Donald Trump’s spending hawks. A day after his press secretary cited some $8 million in spending for Politico subscriptions, Trump dubbed it a “scandal” and online sleuths started looking for evidence of payments to other organizations like the New York Times and Associated Press. Said one Trump aide online: “The U.S. government must stop paying for media subscriptions.” But it’s actually a long-running tradition, depended upon by governments around the world to help them keep up with what is going on. And, the AP noted, has been a staple of Democratic and Republican administrations.