https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-barely-survived-watching-trump-tv-heres-what-i-learned/
"I Barely Survived Watching Trump TV. Here’s What I Learned"
"Nothing. I learned nothing. Except that we should all change the channel while we still can."
Michael Ian Black
Published Sep. 24 2026 12:29PM EDT
Trump TV is on the air and boy does it suck! If you watched the minute-long teaser trailer put out by the White House, you might believe the channel is serving up a steady diet of comfort-food reruns like Modern Family, Seinfeld, and Family Guy. One would naturally arrive at the conclusion since those shows feature prominently in said trailer.
Of course, like all things Trump, the ol' bait-and-switch was in play. There are no beloved television characters on Trump TV, unless Howard Lutnick is your idea of a Central Perk mainstay. Trump TV has exactly zero episodes of old TV shows, not even The Celebrity Apprentice. What it does have is old footage of Trump doing Trump things, which mostly involves talking and falling asleep while other people talk.
When I tuned in this afternoon, I joined a whopping eight hundred other souls reliving Trump's riveting August 31 remarks on healthcare from the Oval Office. I watched and watched and watched some more. Not all at once, of course, because too much exposure to Trump can lead to venereal disease and worse. There were the healthcare remarks and "President Trump Participates in an Arrival Ceremony with the President of China," and his U.N. speech from earlier in the week when he threatened to annihilate Iran (again) and what seeing so much Trump at once reminded me is that our president is a terrible public speaker. Maybe TrumpTV should get somebody else to play Trump? Alec Baldwin's not doing much these days.
If TrumpTV sounds like this is just a rebranding of the official White House YouTube channel, that's because it is. Not sure why they decided to bother renaming it except that our president clearly enjoys things named after him, even stultifyingly bad things like Trump TV, Trump University and Donald Trump Jr.
As dumb (did you know the word "dumb" has a "b" at the end? A lot of people don't know this. I learned it from watching Trump TV) as all of this is, it's worth putting it into context. Last week, the administration barred CNN, Politico, and MS Now from the White House. A couple days later, we've got Trump TV on the air.
I'm no scholar on the subject, but who needs education these days? It seems to me that banning what you perceive to be unfavorable press outlets while launching a media outlet of your own is pretty high up on the authoritarian to-do list. Of course, this being Trump, the endeavor is not even half-assed. (A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump's ban, and ordered that these three news outlets have their access restored. The Trump administration, it appears, is ignoring him.)
In the meantime, those craving even more Trump can tune into Trump TV for such compelling viewing as "2025 United Nations General Assembly Highlights" (that malfunctioning escalator moment was, sadly, not included) and a perverse 'music video' entitled "16 Months of Zero Releases at the Border" which features a country song with the lyrics "Somebody's been shot/somebody's been abused." I assume the lyrics refer to an immigrant being abused by Trump's ICE goons.
The idea of a dedicated "news" network bearing the president's name – even one as stupefyingly pointless as this – ought to disturb Americans for the same reason Mussolini TV never caught on. (I don't think there was an actual Mussolini TV, but I maintain it wouldn't have caught on.) Because one cannot trust the government to deliver the truth.
I'm not saying all governments deliberately lie to their people, but enough of them do, and they do so often enough, that the idea of a free press seems like a pretty good solution—a necessary one, even.. This is why the Constitution specifically enumerates the importance of their role in the First Amendment. You think Jefferson liked being on the receiving end of all those "Dusky Sally" op-eds in the tabloids of the day? Of course not, but all of our Founders recognized democracy demands transparency.
Didn't somebody once say "Democracy dies in darkness"? Ah yes, that was Jeff Bezos, the oligarch whose purchase of the Washington Post was accompanied by a pivot from holding the powerful to account to killing editorials that might endanger his government rocket ship contracts.
Now, with the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger set to proceed after Gavin Newsom sold out his state by strong-arming his attorney general to settle the thing over the objections of several other states, the president's wish of "reforming" CNN into another kind of Trump TV is likely to be granted. We are almost surely going to see the Ellisons do to the network what they've done to CBS News: install Bari Weiss or some other accommodating flunky and clean house of anybody that might question the White House too harshly. After all, this is not a group used to being questioned at all, let alone by the likes of "sleazebag" Kaitlan Collins.
There's a difference between setting the narrative and controlling it. Trump has mastered the first but is woeful at the second. Trump TV is his attempt to bridge the gap. By showing "highlights" of his administration on a loop, I suppose the idea is to buttress the bulls--t idea that this is a team that gets things done for the American people. They do not, and no amount of rebranding will change that sad fact. Maybe it will catch on like one of those ASMR fireplace videos, although at least those fireplace videos provide a valuable service.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-barely-survived-watching-trump-tv-heres-what-i-learned/
@Suzianne saidSaw Jen and she said the viewers were something like 10000 or so watched but dropped out by the thousands and were down to 3000 listeners after 2/3 went bye bye and I think she said he turned of the channel.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-barely-survived-watching-trump-tv-heres-what-i-learned/
"I Barely Survived Watching Trump TV. Here’s What I Learned"
"Nothing. I learned nothing. Except that we should all change the channel while we still can."
Michael Ian Black
Published Sep. 24 2026 12:29PM EDT
Trump TV is on the air and boy does it suck! If you wa ...[text shortened]... service.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-barely-survived-watching-trump-tv-heres-what-i-learned/
@Suzianne saidDo you have a point, all you did was post an article written by a liberal on a liberal site.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-barely-survived-watching-trump-tv-heres-what-i-learned/
"I Barely Survived Watching Trump TV. Here’s What I Learned"
"Nothing. I learned nothing. Except that we should all change the channel while we still can."
Michael Ian Black
Published Sep. 24 2026 12:29PM EDT
Trump TV is on the air and boy does it suck! If you wa ...[text shortened]... service.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-barely-survived-watching-trump-tv-heres-what-i-learned/
Yes, The Daily Beast is widely considered to have a liberal or left-leaning political bias.Media Watchdog RatingsAllSides: Rates The Daily Beast as "Left" based on blind bias surveys and editorial reviews, noting that its reporting and opinion pieces frequently favor progressive viewpoints and heavily criticize conservative figures.General Consensus:
Major outlets and media analysis groups generally categorize the site's tone and editorial stance as liberal, leaning into sharp commentary, pop culture, and investigative politics that often challenge right-of-center policies and politicians.
Editorial IdentitySelf-Description: The site describes itself as "independent, irreverent, and intelligent," claiming a non-partisan approach that is skeptical rather than neutral.Content Style: While it features hard-hitting investigative journalism and scoops, its commentary and headlines frequently use an aggressive, satirical, or critical tone directed heavily at conservative politicians and right-wing policies.
@mike69 saidSo?
Do you have a point, all you did was post an article written by a liberal on a liberal site.
Yes, The Daily Beast is widely considered to have a liberal or left-leaning political bias.Media Watchdog RatingsAllSides: Rates The Daily Beast as "Left" based on blind bias surveys and editorial reviews, noting that its reporting and opinion pieces frequently favor progressive vie ...[text shortened]... e, satirical, or critical tone directed heavily at conservative politicians and right-wing policies.
@sonhouse saidA recently planned 'Patriot Fest' featuring Kid Rock was cancelled after all of six VIP tickets were sold at 1,000 USD each. (I don't know whether the six got their money refunded.)
Saw Jen and she said the viewers were something like 10000 or so watched but dropped out by the thousands and were down to 3000 listeners after 2/3 went bye bye and I think she said he turned of the channel.
Trump's popularity is waning, and this TrumpTV schtick is nothing but a desperate trick, similar to Melania The Movie, to buoy up somebody's sinking ego.
@moonbus saidKid rock was just a guest speaker and had just signed on. Admission was free trying to sell a hundred 1000 dollar packages to pay for the event. Doesn’t seem very well planned out, on a farm in Kentucky? As far as popularity look at Trumps convention numbers almost filling stadiums while yours get a couple hundred people in a crappy room. Do you think your media would say anything different about Trump? Tell me besides socialism what exactly your party plans are to make America great although we already have a beautiful free country.
A recently planned 'Patriot Fest' featuring Kid Rock was cancelled after all of six VIP tickets were sold at 1,000 USD each. (I don't know whether the six got their money refunded.)
Trump's popularity is waning, and this TrumpTV schtick is nothing but a desperate trick, similar to Melania The Movie, to buoy up somebody's sinking ego.
@moonbus saidI bet they didn't get their kilobuck back either.....Once money gets to Trump it don't leave.
A recently planned 'Patriot Fest' featuring Kid Rock was cancelled after all of six VIP tickets were sold at 1,000 USD each. (I don't know whether the six got their money refunded.)
Trump's popularity is waning, and this TrumpTV schtick is nothing but a desperate trick, similar to Melania The Movie, to buoy up somebody's sinking ego.
@mike69 saidBiased is fine, if it's biased towards sanity and not insanity.
Your actual point of posting this for debate when you know it’s nothing but biased. It just seems kind of dumb for a debate topic?
Having a "critical tone directed heavily at conservative politicians and right-wing policies" is the only tone to have. Trump has sunk the conservative ship, and we already knew his policies stink. Go there at your own peril. You'd do well to listen to people who understand his scorched-earth attitudes. Trump is dangerous to America, and all we see from you fools is a bunch of slobs sitting around the TV swilling beer and yelling, "Yuh!! 'Murica!!" You just do not get that Trump is destroying America and you're just sitting there watching him do it.
@mike69 saidWe had a beautiful free country until Trump and his fat, self-serving mouth came along. Thankfully, he hasn't gotten away with damaging it too badly except we're trillions more in debt and he's billions richer.
Kid rock was just a guest speaker and had just signed on. Admission was free trying to sell a hundred 1000 dollar packages to pay for the event. Doesn’t seem very well planned out, on a farm in Kentucky? As far as popularity look at Trumps convention numbers almost filling stadiums while yours get a couple hundred people in a crappy room. Do you think your media would say ...[text shortened]... xactly your party plans are to make America great although we already have a beautiful free country.
@PuzZuLz saidI didn't watch a single minute of it, you fool.
@Suzianne
If you don't like it, don't watch it.
Isn't that what you said about TV shows ramming woke BS down our throats?
This guy did, and he found it a complete waste of time.
More self-serving BS, the same as always from Trump.
Surprised there weren't more ads for Trump watches and Trump steaks.
@PuzZuLz saidYou're clearly a world-class idiot who knows less than nothing.
What did you expect from a college drop out, multiple times drop out, and old with no husband?
Mother would be so proud.
I'm none of those things, except the no husband part, and you know what they say, a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.