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Trump Debuts YouTube Channel With 80-Day-Old Speech

The White House touted “Trump TV” as a replacement for traditional TV coverage, but viewer figures suggest otherwise.

President Donald Trump has launched his own “TV” channel with an 80-day-old speech after real TV networks pulled the plug on him over his press ban.

America’s major TV networks—NBC, ABC, CBS, and even Fox News—suspended their pooled coverage of Trump on Monday after he banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House.

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But the 80-year-old president has sought to shrug off the TV snub, with the White House attempting to fill the airwave void Monday by launching “Trump TV,” which promised round-the-clock Trump coverage.

For all its big-league branding, however, Trump TV has turned out to be a glorified rerun channel on the White House’s YouTube account.

Dubbed “TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station,” the YouTube livestream pitches itself as the destination for “the Trump Administration’s biggest moments all in one place.”

The White House’s X account turned up the hype, promising Trump TV would be “24/7, updated in real time, with top past moments, announcements, and the latest and greatest from the administration all in one place.”

Trump’s deputy assistant Kaelan Dorr went as far as touting it as a direct alternative to the news media, writing on X, “The press, in some cases, reported inaccurately or not at all on the Administration’s many record breaking accomplishments on behalf of all Americans. Trump TV is a 24/7 livestream of the Administration’s greatest hits, unfiltered.”

But Trump TV’s big debut began with an old rerun: a speech Trump delivered at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on July 3.

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Viewer numbers soon suggested Trump TV was no stand-in for the traditional TV coverage of the president, much less living up to its “must-see” billing.

While roughly 8,000 people were watching when the livestream began at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, that number had plummeted to fewer than 4,000 within an hour and a half.

The 9 p.m. Eastern primetime slot brought Trump TV roughly 3,000 viewers—hardly a match for the millions tuning into the major networks each night.

Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore was supposed to mark the country’s 250th birthday, but the president at one point veered into whining about having failed to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.

“Americans have won the most Olympic medals of any country in the world by far, the most Nobel Prizes,” Trump said. He then paused and added: “Well, they haven’t given me one.”

“Settled eight wars,” he continued. “I still haven’t gotten it, but that’s OK.”

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After 9 p.m., Trump TV moved on to a rerun of an October 2025 United States Marine Corps amphibious capabilities demonstration held to mark the Corps’ 250th anniversary.

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The press’ coordinated response to Trump’s ban on the outlets has left the 80-year-old president without a major network TV crew or photographers to cover him.

As a result, the reality TV star-turned-president’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for his $13 million helipad descended into a farce, with his remarks rendered virtually inaudible amid the absence of the traditional TV pool.

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Erkki ForsterNight News Reporter

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