Trump TV Is Ratings Disaster – Viewers Give Verdict on President’s New Network

Just days after CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were banned from the White House, President Donald Trump has launched his own 24/7 streaming channel, aptly titled Trump TV: The Essentials Station.

The White House announced the channel’s launch on Monday (September 21), with Trump’s deputy assistant Kaelan Door explaining the broadcast would be “a 24/7 livestream of the Administration’s greatest hits, unfiltered.” Viewers can watch the stream on YouTube and in the White House app.

However, Trump TV is already facing problems. Firstly, the White House promoted the launch with a video featuring clips from various shows, including The Office, Friends, Seinfeld, Breaking Bad, Family Guy, and more, all set to The Buggles’ song “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Given the administration’s penchant for using music and media without permission, many pointed out how this was a “cease and desist” waiting to happen.

A copyright lawyer in Los Angeles just died mid-orgasm as he contemplated the billing he was going to get from the cease and desist letters on this video https://t.co/yndGbhxDr4

— Damin Toell (@damintoell) September 21, 2026

Second, the initial YouTube metrics leave much to be desired. According to The Daily Beast, the stream launched with around 8,000 viewers but dropped to below 4,000 about 90 minutes later. By 9 pm ET, the channel had around 3,000 viewers watching footage of Trump’s old speeches.

Those numbers continued to drop throughout the night, with fewer than 2,500 watching by around 10:40 pm. For a channel with 3.18 million followers, that equated to 0.076 percent of potential viewership.

“Trump TV” appears to be a YouTube channel meant to show the president’s “greatest hits.” Fewer than 5,000 people are watching, and the comments are already turned off. pic.twitter.com/Iar5lTbc8w

— Mike (not a) Rothschild (@rothschildmd) September 21, 2026

Viewer feedback also left much to be desired, with many calling the new channel “State TV” and comparing it to “North Korea”- style propaganda.

“First in my generation to witness the launch of a State-run TV channel named after a sitting president in a democracy,” wrote one X user.

“We just want cheaper gas, man,” said another.

The fact that he calls it ‘trump TV’ tells me it’ll go bankrupt in less than a year.

— Covie (@covie_93) September 21, 2026

“Pravda. State TV. 24/7 propaganda. He’ll use this to try and get you to comply when he either loses or refuses to even hold an election in 2028,” another added.

Another wrote, “This is ACTUAL state-run propaganda media. No different than what you would find on TV in communist countries like North Korea & China. This is REAL COMMUNISM.”

Things are more expensive than ever; people are struggling to put food on the table while having to work multiple jobs; AI is threatening the livelihood of so many….

So what’s the United States government focused on? State-run media.

There’s no way of saving this https://t.co/srneteG7BD

— Mike Straw (@MikeStrawMedia) September 22, 2026

Trump announced on Friday (September 18) that he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. In a Truth Social post, he warned, “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.” Since then, the other major news networks have stood in solidarity with the banned outlets.

In a joint statement issued by the pool members from ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News, the networks said, “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”

This meant there was no audio from the press pool on Monday when the president spoke during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the White House. Trump was essentially left shouting into the void.

LMFAO — Trump is holding an event at the White House right now but there’s no audio because the press pool isn’t there. The Newsmax host notes that this is an example of Trump’s attacks on the press “backfiring just a little bit” pic.twitter.com/dAy1dvDvFL

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 21, 2026