Like, Subscribe and Govern: The White House Is Creating Its Own Media Ecosystem

Monday evening, a new YouTube channel flickered to life with a sizzle reel that would give an entertainment IP lawyer conniptions: A supercut featuring clips from shows like The Office, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Friends, and dozens of other classic TV shows.

The only wrinkle? The channel had taken over the White House YouTube page. In fact, it was a White House project: Trump TV.

Last Friday, President Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, and threatened that others would follow. The other networks, including Fox News, NBC News, CBS News and ABC News, responded by suspending the TV press pool.

So the White House launched its own. While Trump TV launched with a sizzle reel suggesting it had something for everyone (the tagline is “the essentials station”), in practice it seems to be focused on live speeches and events, the sort of pool coverage that networks would, maybe, break into, if it was newsworthy enough.

But the Trump TV YouTube channel also underscores the extent to which the Trump administration is slowly, subtly creating its own entire media ecosystem, one that includes live speeches, sure, but also influencer cameos, and even an entire slate of shows, with cabinet secretaries as the star.

Over the weekend (as the mainstream media was scrambling to figure out how to respond to the White House press ban), the Pentagon shared photos and a hype video of YouTubers turned powerhouse creators Jake and Logan Paul addressing troops in the Pentagon press briefing room (it had already banished most journalists from the building in a previous dustup with the media). Other officials have similarly hosted influencers (Dr. Paul Saladino, conservative pundits, etc.)

And last week the Small Business Administration hosted what it called the “Million Dollar Pitch” competition, a Shark Tank-esque show, hosted by Superman actor Dean Cain, with judges that include rapper Nicki Minaj, financial influencer Grant Cardone, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, with SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler along for the ride. The event was filmed for a TV special set to air next month (maybe on Trump TV?).

Last month the Department of Transportation launched a YouTube series called The Great American Road Trip, with Secretary Sean Duffy and his family exploring America, supporting the administration’s America 250 initiatives in the process (with guest appearances from the likes of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum).

Duffy, of course, is a media veteran, having forged his career on MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules (it’s where he met his future wife Rachel Campos-Duffy), and he subsequently would work as a contributor to both CNN and Fox News.

In fact the administration is staffed with media veterans, from former Fox News hosts Pete Hegseth and Jeanine Pirro, to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who hosted a syndicated TV show until his ill-fated U.S. Senate run in 2022. When Katie Miller left the administration, it is telling that she chose to launch a YouTube interview show rather than seek a TV contributor deal.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy launched a cooking show, The Real Food Show, and hosts a podcast, essentially creating a MAHA-friendly media, backed by the U.S. government. A high school sports competition, hosted by the administration, ultimately streamed on ESPN.

It all adds up to an administration that is more aggressive about forging its own version of the media, from news and cooking shows to reality TV and game shows, even as it sidesteps or even banishes the outlets that have defined traditional media for decades.

Traditional media, to be certain, is struggling. The slow and steady decline of pay-TV has hammered cable profits (even as cable news channels take up a greater percentage of cable-TV viewing). Just yesterday Paramount settled its landmark antitrust suit, paving the way for a CBS News-CNN merger, with layoffs and efficiencies sure to follow. Print media has been weakened by Google, and is facing an existential crisis thanks to the incentives AI chatbots.

Competition from the government is the last thing the media needs, even if it remains mostly a hodgepodge of programing and speeches that won’t interest most consumers. But the Paul brothers at the Pentagon also tell a different story: This was an administration that won in 2024 in part by leaning into alternative media and podcasts, an ecosystem that may be more pliable, if they aren’t already on board with what the administration is doing.

While Trump himself remains a creature of old media, there’s no denying his willingness to embrace new forms of media. He built his brands in the cutthroat New York City tabloids in the 1980s, but became a household name when he became a frequent guest on cable news, before burnishing his brand with NBC’s The Apprentice, and embracing Twitter to get his unvarnished thoughts out into the world.

The media world is changing, and the administration seems to understand it. Trump TV may fizzle out, but there’s no chance future Presidents rely only on traditional media to get their message across.