$113 million donation saves NPR public radio in the US

The American broadcaster, National Public Radio (NPR, for its acronym in English) received the largest donation in its history from a living person, billionaire philanthropist Connie Ballmer, who contributed $80 million.

Ballmer, a former member of the NPR Foundation board of directors, said his donation aims to support local journalism, emphasizing the importance of an informed citizenry for democracy.

An additional $33 million was donated anonymously, bringing total funding to NPR to $113 million.

In 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending the federal budget for public television and radio organizations. NPR CEO Katherine Maher said the donations would help NPR become more sustainable and prepare its network and stations for the next 50 years.

NPR is a United States nonprofit media organization, founded in 1970, that operates as a producer and distributor of public radio and digital content. It produces news, analysis, cultural programs and podcasts with journalistic rigor, its signal is broadcast on a thousand affiliated stations.

Trump accuses public media of having an ideological bias toward Democrats and conservative critics argue that state radio should not receive government funds and requires them to compete with private ones for their income. In March, a federal judge prohibited the government from implementing the presidential directive to veto the budget.