In an effort to fill a gap in television coverage, the White House launched “Trump TV” on September 21, 2026. It said the streaming channel would broadcast videos highlighting the administration’s achievements.
The move came amid an escalating dispute between the White House and CNN. Trump had barred CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico, from the White House grounds, accusing the outlets of publishing what he described as “fiction and lies” about his presidency. CNN, MS NOW and Politico subsequently sued the administration, arguing that their credentials had been revoked in retaliation for their reporting and that the decision violated their First Amendment rights and due-process protections. CNN had been scheduled to serve as the television pool for Trump’s U.N. trip, but was unable to perform that assignment after the ban. ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC then declined to provide a replacement pool.
The Trump TV initiative sparked controversy. In an interview with Fox News, Weijia Jiang, a former president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said: “America cannot have state TV. That’s what makes America America. That’s why we need independent coverage, and that’s why this press pool system has been in place for so long and works: you need independent actors to serve as observers. If the government is only showing you what it wants, then you have to ask: What are we missing?”.
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