Washington DC - A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump's administration from shutting down Radio Free Europe.

Royce C. Lamberth, a US District Court judge for the District of Columbia, issued the order based on concerns around Trump's use of executive power to shut down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty without a Congressional ruling.

"The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE/RL to shut down – even if the President has told them to do so," the ruling says.

Lamberth's decision will allow RFE/RL to operate until at least March 28, at which point he will have made a decision whether to issue a preliminary injunction allowing the organization to operate until a final verdict has been reached by the court.

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RFE/RL was founded by the CIA in the 1950s as a way to promote anti-communist, pro-US propaganda in Eastern Europe.

To this day, it reports in nearly 30 different languages even beyond Europe's borders and is considered a significant element of US soft power, alongside sister organizations such as Radio Free Asia.

The Trump administration justified its decision to cut RFE/RL and other state-funding media organizations based on claims that they promote "radical propaganda" and are no-longer necessarily in a post-Cold War world.

RFE/RL President disagreed with such a statement, calling the cancellation of funding "a massive gift to America's enemies."