‘Literally state-run TV’: Trump launches YouTube channel amid boycott by US networks

Donald Trump’s previous television career centred on his role on The Apprentice, but the US president’s latest media venture is a rather lower-budget affair: the launch of Trump TV in the wake of his ban on several outlets from covering the White House.

With major US networks agreeing to not cover the president while the dispute continues, on Monday the White House announced the new 24/7 YouTube live stream, which it promised would feature “top past moments, announcements, and the latest and greatest from the administration all in one place”.

The anchor-less channel dispenses with traditional broadcast norms. With no schedule, no on-screen description of what is being shown, and zero context for where or when a clip was recorded, the effect of having the channel on in the background is less like watching a news network and more like installing Trump wallpaper – a 24-hour fever dream of self-soothing propaganda for the Maga faithful.

On Tuesday, the stream swung wildly between cinematic replays of Trump attending a UK state banquet, emotional footage of Laken Riley’s mother praising Trump as “a man of his word”, an 18-month-old clip of Melania Trump at an awards ceremony, and Trump delivering a long, rambling press conference in February 2025 in which he casually advocated for the US taking over Gaza and absorbing Canada as the 51st state.

Despite the channel boasting more than 3 million subscribers, the initial appetite for this unedited stream of consciousness appeared modest at best: live viewer counts hovered at around 1,500.

A minute-long trailer for the new service features an uptempo electronic version of The Buggles’ hit Video Killed the Radio Star by Andrew Spencer, while clips from Seinfeld, Modern Family, Breaking Bad, Friends, Parks and Recreation, The Office and many more show a host of familiar faces scrambling to apparently watch the channel on their televisions. The clips originate from a wide range of US networks, including Warner Bros, Fox, Nickelodeon, Sony Pictures Television, Disney and NBCUniversal.

While the animation staples Family Guy, The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants feature in the trailer, notably absent is any appearance of characters from South Park, the satirical show that has taken to portraying the US president as being in a relationship with Satan, and frequently mocks the size and appearance of Trump’s genitals.

The California governor, Gavin Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate for the 2028 election, decried the launch of Trump TV as “quite literally state-run TV” and “truly autocratic behaviour”, which he said Trump was using to “drown out the fact that he and his corrupt administration are failing”.

As part of his escalating row with the media, Trump described established US outlets as a threat to national security, posting on Truth Social: “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer.”

With the network pool refusing to cover the president on Monday, a White House-produced live stream covered Trump opening a new helipad at the White House, with his remarks totally inaudible due to the helicopter behind him.