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- White House launches 24/7 Trump TV livestream on its official YouTube channel, replaying speeches and top moments.
- He banned major outlets CNN, MS NOW, and Politico; they sued, alleging violations of the First Amendment.
- Hours after launch, Trump TV averaged about 5,000 viewers on YouTube, prompting mockery and jokes about Trump brands.
Donald Trump has spent the past few days shutting certain cameras out of the White House. On Monday, he found a way to make sure the cameras he actually likes never stop rolling.
Just days after the president barred three major news outlets from the White House, his team dropped a cryptic teaser online. It showed an old TV set frozen on a blue screen, searching for a signal.
What finally came through wasn’t a news network. And the name stamped on it told everyone exactly who the star of the show would be.
The screen in the teaser read “Acquiring Satellite Signal.” The caption underneath made the pitch plain: “Not every big moment has made it on your tv,” the White House wrote. “Now it can.”
About an hour later, the account followed up with a one-word announcement on X: “Launched.” It promised “all the top hits, wins, + more,” streaming 24/7 on your phone or TV.
The name on the marquee is “Trump TV.”
The livestream, billed as “TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station,” runs on the White House’s official YouTube channel and promises top videos, major remarks and must-see highlights updated in real time.
The first thing it aired wasn’t news. It opened with Trump’s July 3 Mount Rushmore address and then rolled into his 2025 inauguration. The White House also posted the launch video on its official website under the headline “Trump TV is Here.”
It hasn’t said whether the station will carry live events or keep replaying Trump’s greatest hits.
The timing is interesting though. On Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were barred from the White House. He said the outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES” and added, “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
By Saturday morning, the ban was in force. MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner, CNN’s Betsy Klein and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett showed up for work, were denied entry, and had their credentials confiscated or disabled. Then, on Monday, the three outlets sued, arguing the ban violates the First Amendment, according to NBC News.
The rest of the press corps didn’t fall in line. The White House TV pool, which is made up of CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and CNN, refused to cover Trump that same day rather than send a replacement for CNN, which had been scheduled for pool duty.
When Trump unveiled the new White House helipad, there was no pool microphone, and static drowned out the feed. C-SPAN didn’t air the event, and The Washington Post held its photos until midnight in support of the banned outlets.
On social media, the reaction was loud, to say the least.
One person asked, “This does not seem very America first, but it’s definitely Trump first.”
Others went straight to the track record. “I’m sure trump TV will do just as well as trump steaks and trump vodka,” one user joked.
“I wish I could say I’m surprised but with trump’s massive ego nothing surprises me anymore,” another posted. One more tagged the Federal Communications Commission directly: “No state run tv in America.”
Another user on X wrote, “Trump TV All the news that fits the narrative 24/7.”
Others pointed out how just hours after the announcement was made, Trump TV was only averaging at about 5,000 viewers on YouTube.
Trump’s war with the press didn’t just start this weekend. Last year, his administration barred Associated Press journalists after the outlet refused to adopt his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” and the AP is still fighting that case in court.
He also blocked a Wall Street Journal reporter from Air Force One after the publication reported on his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to stamp his name on something that belongs to the public, either.
Just last week, he said the Kennedy Center’s renovation would stay frozen unless the courts let his name go on the building.
For now, Trump TV is streaming, and the reporters he doesn’t like are still on the sidewalk. A hearing on the outlets’ lawsuit is set for Wednesday.
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