First President Trump questioned the existence of National Public Radio in a tweet. Then, as part of the annual budget request released last Monday, he recommended slashing federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the body that distributes taxpayer dollars to NPR and other public media outlets, to $0 by 2023.

Past budget proposals from Mr. Trump have apparently had little influence over the amounts that public media has received from the government. For the 2020 fiscal year, the White House recommended $30 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Congress, which has traditionally shown support for public media, ultimately decided on $465 million.

Although Congress controls how much federal money goes to public broadcasters, NPR is not taking the potential threat lightly. About 1 percent of its budget comes from federal money, but Mike Riksen, an NPR vice president, said the funding was “essential” to public radio.

“Elimination of federal funding would result in fewer programs, less journalism — especially local journalism — and, eventually, the loss of public radio stations, particularly in rural and economically distressed communities,” Mr. Riksen said. “We are fully engaged with policymakers to ensure a complete understanding of federal funding and its importance to our stations and the public media system.”