The White House has launched a 24/7 streaming platform called ‘Trump TV: The Essentials Station’, offering viewers continuous video coverage of President Donald Trump, administration announcements, major presidential remarks and footage from his past public appearances.
The move comes after Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over what he described as “fake news” coverage, which led to a legal challenge from the three news organisations and an unprecedented decision by major US television networks to suspend their shared White House pool coverage in solidarity.
The Trump TV service went live on Monday evening (loca time), with the White House describing it as a platform to watch the Trump administration’s “biggest moments all in one place”. The livestream is being updated in real time and features a mix of recent announcements, presidential speeches and archival footage.
Announcing the launch on X, the official White House account said the channel would run 24/7 with “top past moments, announcements, and the latest and greatest from the administration all in one place”.
The White House also said some major presidential moments had not made it to television and suggested Trump TV would provide viewers with direct access to such footage.
The first streamed footage included a speech Trump delivered at Mount Rushmore in July this year. The channel also showed footage from Trump’s previous public appearances, including his swearing-in ceremony as the 47th President of the United States.
Kaelan Dorr, deputy assistant to the President, described the platform on X as a “livestream of the Administration’s greatest hits, unfiltered.”
The launch comes amid an escalating confrontation between the Trump administration and major US news organisations over White House press access.
TV NETWORKS SUSPEND WHITE HOUSE POOL COVERAGE
On the same day Trump TV was launched, the five major US television networks — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC — took the unusual step of suspending the traditional White House television pool.
The move came after Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House last week. CNN had been scheduled to provide the television pool coverage on Monday.
A television pool involves one broadcaster filming a presidential event on behalf of participating news organisations, allowing other outlets to use the footage. The arrangement is particularly important when space or security restrictions prevent every broadcaster from sending its own crew.
The five networks said in a joint statement that the public had “a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government” and that no administration should restrict a news organisation because it objected to its reporting.
The decision disrupted traditional television coverage of Trump’s trip to New York for the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where he was scheduled to participate in the high-level General Debate and meet several foreign leaders.
The White House instead had its own video operation available to distribute footage of Trump’s activities.
The development was particularly visible earlier Monday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new helipad on the White House South Lawn. With the television pool suspended, the White House relied on its own video feed.
Trump’s remarks during the ceremony were difficult to hear over the noise from Marine One, but footage of the event was made available through the administration’s livestream.
CNN, MS NOW, POLITICO CHALLENGE BAN IN COURT
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have separately challenged their exclusion from the White House in federal court.
The organisations are seeking to overturn the restrictions and argue that the administration violated the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
In their court filing, the organisations described the decision as a direct assault on press freedom and argued that the government should not be able to determine which news organisations receive access based on their reporting.
The three outlets said their journalists had been denied access to the White House grounds on Saturday and had their passes confiscated.
They said the White House revoked their journalists’ credentials “without notice or process” because it objected to their reporting.
The outlets warned that allowing the restrictions to stand could affect the public’s access to independent journalism.
The White House has defended the decision, arguing that the First Amendment protects the media’s right to publish but does not give individual organisations an automatic right to access the White House grounds, briefing room or presidential press pool.
TRUMP CALLS MEDIA ‘FAKE NEWS’
Meanwhile, Trump has remained unapologetic about the restrictions. In a post on Truth Social, he said the White House was not attacking the free press but was targeting what he called “FAKE NEWS”.
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” Trump said, adding, “It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.”
Speaking to reporters outside Gracie Mansion in New York after meeting Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Trump also dismissed suggestions that news organisations could boycott him.
He added that the media organisations had an obligation to report fairly and defended his decision to restrict outlets he accused of publishing false reports.
“I think that these outlets have an obligation to be fair. And if they’re fake news, I really think I have an obligation not to allow them into another very special house,” he said, referring to the White House.
Trump has not provided a specific incident that prompted the ban. Asked about the decision in the Oval Office on Friday, he said it was the result of what he described as “cumulative stories over the last two years”.
He also warned that other media organisations could face similar restrictions, without specifying which outlets.
The launch of Trump TV now gives the White House a dedicated platform to distribute presidential video independently of traditional broadcasters.
Critics of the initiative have described it as a form of state-controlled or state-run media. The White House, however, presents the platform as a direct communication channel through which the administration can distribute its own video and announcements.
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