Trump launches ‘Trump TV’ channel after networks boycott him

New York: Donald Trump launched a “Trump TV” propaganda station after the major US television networks collectively refused to cover the president’s daily press events in solidarity with CNN, which he banned over his dislike of its coverage.

ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News stood with their colleagues and will not participate in the daily “pool” – a small, rotating group of key outlets that film and share footage of the president’s public events.

Bryan Boughton, the Washington bureau chief for Fox News and current chair of the TV pool, told subscribers the group would no longer cover events designated for pool coverage. “There will be no replacement pool put in place,” he said.

It means there is a cloud over TV coverage of Trump’s trip to New York for the United Nations – where he will meet numerous other world leaders and deliver an address to the General Assembly. Coverage of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is also uncertain.

While the White House has appointed a second TV pool position – filled on Monday (US time) by right-wing channel Real America’s Voice – those outlets typically do not share footage as per the traditional pool.

All five of the primary TV networks released a rare joint statement. “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” they said. “No administration should restrict a news organisation because it objects to its reporting.”

The united stand came as the three outlets Trump banned – CNN, Politico and MS NOW – began legal action challenging the president’s move under the First Amendment of the Constitution, which protects a free press.

The lawsuit names Trump, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, communications director Steven Cheung and Secret Service director Sean Curran as defendants. It was lodged in the US District Court for the District of Columbia (Washington) on Monday.

“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” lawyers for the networks said in the claim.

“The president’s statements make clear he implemented the ban to coerce more favourable coverage of the administration from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, and to deter other journalists and news organisations from reporting that the president might view as unfavourable.”

They also contend that Trump’s ban – announced on Friday afternoon via social media, and implemented that night – violated the due process clause by failing to give notice, clear reasons or an opportunity to be heard.

Trump made the decision after his aide, Natalie Harp, showed him footage of MS NOW anchors criticising his administration, The Wall Street Journal reported at the weekend.

The president is known for his voluminous consumption of television coverage of his administration, and he regularly posts online praising or criticising the appearances of talking heads on cable news.

Faced with an absence of TV coverage, the White House directed followers to its own app, where Trump’s appearances are streamed live. It rebranded its live feed as “Trump TV”, a channel that will play “the Trump administration’s biggest moments”, similar to state-run television in nations such as China or North Korea.

But the administration’s broadcasts were marred by mishaps. Earlier in the day, when Trump cut the ribbon on a new helipad he had installed at the White House, the live stream failed to capture the sound properly, leaving the president’s remarks mostly inaudible.

In a statement, the White House said that changes to building access were applied by every administration. “The rule was never ‘every outlet gets in’,” the White House said. “It was always ‘our side stays in’.”

Trump doubled down on the ban, saying that “fake news” – his preferred term for reporting he does not like – had “grown like Cancer” in the US. “It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Vice President JD Vance defended the ban, claiming that 92 per cent of the stories carried by CNN, Politico and MS NOW were negative about Trump and the administration.

“That’s not representative of the American people,” Vance told reporters. “If you’re going to engage in what is effectively far-left propaganda, why would a Republican White House give you special access?”

Under the unprecedented ban, journalists from three outlets have been blocked from the White House grounds. Their passes were deactivated, and when they attempted to enter the premises on Saturday, the Secret Services confiscated the passes.

That means the reporters cannot access the camera tents, attend public events with the president or interact with press office staff on the premises. They are broadcasting from the streets near the White House instead.

In a joint statement, CNN, Politico and MS NOW said their legal challenge would defend the core principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.

Trump signalled last week that he expected a legal fight, saying the result may depend on the judge. “I don’t think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day.”

The case was assigned to judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee who presided over a legal challenge in 2018 when Trump banned CNN journalist Jim Acosta from the White House. Kelly ordered the White House to reinstate Acosta, ruling that he had been denied due process.

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