Donald Trump spent years attempting to master television. Now, with the White House effectively producing its own network, the president is discovering that getting the camera pointed at him and getting people to watch are two different things.
“Trump TV,” launched by the White House this week as an online stream of presidential appearances, announcements and administration-produced material, attracted approximately 8,000 live viewers 15 minutes after its debut on YouTube, according to Reuters. The audience subsequently settled at roughly 1,500 viewers at a time, despite the channel somehow having more than 3 million YouTube subscribers.
The White House launched the feed after Trump barred CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House, accusing the organizations of publishing what he called “FICTION and LIES.” The three outlets responded Monday by suing Trump and his administration, arguing that their exclusion violates the First Amendment and their reporters’ due-process rights.
A hearing on their request for a temporary restraining order is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly.
The dispute has produced an unusual television boycott. CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox News make up the White House television pool, rotating responsibility for recording presidential events and distributing the footage to other news organizations. When CNN was prevented from performing its assigned pool duties during Trump’s trip to New York, the other four networks declined to simply substitute for it. The entire television pool suspended coverage instead.
The consequences have become almost comic. During a White House event unveiling a new helipad, the administration’s own video feed showed Trump speaking — but without the pool’s professional microphones, much of what he said was drowned out by the helicopter.
Other news organizations are withholding coverage or images in solidarity with the barred outlets, including The Associated Press, The Washington Post and The New York Times, according to AP.
Likely because of the unintended backfire, Trump has since said he would “probably” restore the outlets’ access if a court rules against him.
For now, however, the White House has something it has rarely had before: complete control over its own television production. But nobody’s watching.
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