Trump unveils TV channel after U.S. media boycott activities

The White House has launched a 24-hour online video stream dubbed “Trump TV” after major US television networks suspended their pooled coverage of President Donald Trump’s events in solidarity with CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which were barred from the White House.

The stream, which the White House described as a real-time platform for presidential announcements, speeches and administration highlights, went live on Monday night as the standoff between Trump and major news organisations escalated.

Its first broadcast featured a speech Trump delivered at Mount Rushmore on July 3, according to reports on the launch.

“TRUMP TV IS STREAMING NOW. 24/7, updated in real time, with top past moments, announcements, and the latest and greatest from the administration all in one place. Not every big moment has made it on your tv, now it can,” the administration wrote yesterday.

The launch followed the decision by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News and CNN to suspend their rotating White House television pool coverage after CNN was prevented from carrying out its scheduled pool duties on Monday. The five networks normally take turns providing a shared television feed of presidential events to other news organisations.

The networks’ decision meant that several of Trump’s events were not covered through the usual pooled television feed, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new presidential helipad before he departed for a two-day trip to New York.

The White House streamed the ceremony on its own social media channels, but the sound from Marine One, which was on the helipad with its engine running, drowned out much of Trump’s remarks.

The ban from White House grounds was Trump’s most aggressive move against the press so far in his second term after the Associated Press was removed last year from pooled access after the wire service refused to go along with his rebrand of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”