ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
India emerges as key focus in Trump administration's new public diplomacy strategy
Sarah Rogers, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media said she had concentrated much of her engagement on countries where social media plays a significant role in public discourse.
-
IANS - Fri, 31, Jul 2026
- 01:09 EDT
- 21
President Trump / Xinhua/Ting Shen/IANS
India has emerged as part of the Trump administration's evolving public diplomacy strategy as Washington shifts greater attention toward Asia while overhauling the way it communicates with overseas audiences, a senior U.S. official told lawmakers.
Sarah Rogers, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), said Asia would be one of the agency's principal areas of focus as the United States responds to growing information campaigns by China and other authoritarian governments.
"Asia, huge focus," Rogers told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while outlining her vision for the agency, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and other U.S.-funded international broadcasters.
Explaining her public diplomacy outreach, Rogers said she had concentrated much of her engagement on countries where social media plays a significant role in public discourse.
"I've also tweeted a lot of content about Japan and some about India," she said, adding that these are among the countries "where Twitter is most popular."
Rogers said the agency should increasingly tailor its outreach to modern media consumption habits rather than relying primarily on traditional radio and television broadcasts.
"If confirmed," she said, USAGM would expand into "short-form video, diaspora group chats, podcasts and other timely forms of engagement," while maintaining conventional broadcasting where it remains effective.
She also argued that U.S. international broadcasting should concentrate on countries where access to independent information remains restricted, identifying Asia, the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan and Cuba among the agency's strategic priorities.
"My first priority will be to stabilize the agency, strengthen its leadership, modernize its operations, and restore research capacity so we can actually measure reach and viewership," Rogers said.
The comments come as the United States places growing emphasis on competing with China not only in trade, technology and defense but also in the information domain.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Leave A Comment
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login