White House Launches Trump TV Amid Media Ban: What We Know - Newsweek

The White House has launched its own round-the-clock video channel, dubbed “Trump TV: The Essentials Station,” just days after President Donald Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.

The new service launched Monday evening at 7 p.m. ET, according to the White House, which has promoted it as a way to watch the Trump administration's “biggest moments all in one place.”

It's first piece of streamed footage is a two-month-old speech that Trump made at Mount Rushmore, on July 3 this year.

The launch comes as Trump's escalating dispute with the news media has disrupted the traditional television pool that provides shared video coverage of the president's movements.

On Monday, CNN, MS NOW and Politico filed a federal lawsuit against the White House challenging their exclusion, arguing that the administration violated their First Amendment rights by removing their access because of their reporting.

Hours later, the television pool announced that it would suspend coverage of presidential events rather than replace CNN for its scheduled pool assignments. The pool normally rotates coverage among ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC, with the footage distributed to other news organizations.

The White House describes the new service as “Trump TV: The Essentials Station.” Its livestream page says it will provide administration videos, major presidential remarks and other highlights, with content streamed and updated in real time.

The White House had teased the launch on social media throughout Monday, including videos hinting that something new was coming.

The service is part of a broader effort by the administration to communicate directly with the public through its own platforms, bypassing traditional news organizations.

The launch coincides with an extraordinary breakdown in the White House's relationship with the television press pool.

Trump announced Friday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were being barred from the White House, citing what he called unfavorable and “fake” coverage. Reporters from the three organizations were subsequently denied access to the White House grounds.

The dispute escalated Monday when CNN was scheduled to provide the television pool coverage for Trump's trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Rather than replace CNN, the remaining networks announced that they would suspend pool coverage of presidential events.

That meant there was no traditional network television pool camera covering Trump's departure for New York.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump defended his decision, calling "Fake News" a "threat to democracy" and vowing to go to appeal.

"Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown 'sources,' shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World," he wrote.

Trump also criticized U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, who has been assigned to the case because he previously ruled in CNN's Jim Acosta's favor during a previous ban.

The consequences were visible Monday afternoon when Trump held 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 spoke for several minutes, but his remarks were difficult to hear over the noise of Marine One's engines.

The White House's livestream nevertheless provided footage of the event, illustrating how the administration's own video operation could fill some of the gap created by the absence of the traditional television pool.

The timing has made the new service part of the broader dispute over whether the White House can control which news organizations receive access to the president.

The administration argues that the First Amendment protects the media's right to publish but does not give individual organizations an automatic right to White House credentials, briefing-room seats or participation in the press pool. The White House said Monday that Trump's decision followed what it characterized as “years of false reporting.”

CNN, MS NOW and Politico argue that the ban is unconstitutional because the administration excluded them in response to their reporting. Their lawsuit asks a federal court to restore their access while the legal challenge proceeds.

The launch of Trump TV does not itself resolve that legal dispute. Instead, it gives the administration another direct channel through which it can distribute video of the president and his administration while the fight over traditional press access moves through the courts.