Stone...stuff...White House...California...teleport...I suffer...'
asserted
I → suffer → ?
That's what President Trump appeared to say as he stood on his new White House helipad wielding a large pair of gold ribbon-cutting scissors on Monday.
asserted
he → appear → Monday
It was impossible to tell what he actually said because the usual TV pool crew wasn't there with their super-sensitive boom microphones, a casualty of the President's ongoing war with the media.
asserted
crew → tell → media
Instead, Trump hollered and gesticulated as he was buffeted by the turbulence from Marine One's rotor blades.
asserted
he → holler → blades
He could have been announcing an annexation of Iceland.
uncertain
He → announce → Iceland
Or, that he had decided to build a Great Pyramid on the National Mall.
asserted
he → decide → Mall
His words were lost to history.
asserted
words → lose → history
The bizarre situation of America being unable to listen to its President during a public event arose because, on Friday, he banned several outlets he dubbed 'fake news,' including CNN and MS NOW, from the White House grounds.
asserted
he → listen → grounds
Subsequently, the other handful of TV networks who share with CNN and MS NOW the duty of covering him on a pool basis, announced a boycott.
asserted
who → share → boycott
It left the President without his usual megaphone and he responded by announcing he would simply launch his own network - Trump TV.
asserted
he → leave → network
The White House launched Trump TV amid the President's feud with the press
We can't hear you: As he cut the ribbon for his new helipad President Trump's words were lost
That seemed, perhaps, like something he has wanted to do all along.
asserted
he → launch → something
Indeed, in 2016, there were rumors, inaccurate as it turned out, that his presidential run was simply a stunt to drum up attention for a television network he planned to launch.
asserted
he → be → network
Now, as his polls numbers slump, it must have seemed an attractive option to have his own channel, featuring content almost exclusively about himself, with no anchors providing negative context, and no interviews with defeatist experts.
asserted
it → slump → experts
The arrival of 'TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station' on Monday night was trailed as a major event by the White House, with social media posts showing an old-style television spluttering into life, and a van with a satellite dish logo arriving at the executive residence.
asserted
van → trail → residence
A dramatic minute-long advert for Trump TV featured clips from iconic shows with the characters apparently gearing up to watch it.
asserted
characters → feature → it
Moments from Seinfeld, Friends, Home Alone, The Simpsons and Family Guy all featured.
asserted
Moments → feature → Seinfeld
In a social media announcement, the White House said: 'Watch the Trump Administration’s biggest moments all in one place.
asserted
House → say → place
White House TV correspondents prepare to go live as the CNN booth is empty on the White House grounds on September 21, 2026
CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein reports near the White House complex after having her credential confiscated
It went on: 'Not every big moment has made it on your TV, now it can.
asserted
it → prepare → TV
Just the news that matters most - straight from the Trump Administration.'
asserted
that → matter → Administration
That seemed like a knee-jerk reaction to take over the role until now performed by the free press, including CNN.
asserted
That → seem → CNN
However, the Daily Mail can reveal, the project had been planned well before the eruption of Trump's most recent row with the TV networks.
asserted
project → reveal → networks
The White House digital team had been working on the idea for a 24/7 streaming service featuring the president's 'greatest hit' speeches, according to a person familiar with the effort.
uncertain
team → work → effort
It was built as part of testing for a YouTube 'Station' feature for content creators.
asserted
It → build → creators
When the President banned CNN and MS NOW, followed by the other networks boycotting the White House, it was seen internally in the Trump Administration as an ideal opportunity to launch the feature.
Democrats immediately condemned it as a lurch into despotism.
asserted
Democrats → ban → despotism
'The President of the United States of America blocked access to the free press and launched state-run media,' said Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California.
asserted
Newsom → block → California
Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s former press secretary in his first term, said: 'You know who else does this?
asserted
who → say → this
It turns out Trump TV, like many a Trump project with a hyped launch, is less than that, at least at the moment.
asserted
TV → turn → moment
Instead, in its current form, it amounts to a stream hosted on the White House YouTube channel which shows a never-ending compilation of his and JD Vance's old speeches.
asserted
which → amount → speeches
A source familiar with the project told the Daily Mail its future is unknown, but there are no immediate plans to bring in news anchors, personalities or interviews.
asserted
future → tell → anchors
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins in the White House Press Briefing Room before President Trump banned the network from the grounds
It launched on Monday night with a a recording of a speech by Trump at Mount Rushmore more than two months ago.
asserted
It → ban → Rushmore
That was followed by Trump’s 2025 Inauguration address.
asserted
That → follow → address
It seems likely there was an element of trolling in the way the launch was hyped, but there does appear to be a strategy behind the project itself.
asserted
launch → seem → project
Bypassing traditional media the channel can deliver an endless stream of Trump content directly to MAGA voters in an effort to enthuse them and increase turnout in the midterms.
asserted
channel → bypass → midterms
As one White House spokesman put it: 'The press, in some cases, reported inaccurately or not at all on the Administration’s many record breaking accomplishments on behalf of all Americans.
asserted
press → put → Americans
But Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said: 'This just makes it even clearer that the real goal here is to ensure that the American public is fed a steady diet of government propaganda.'
asserted
public → say → propaganda
Whatever the eventual role of the channel is, it is as they say in the TV industry, experiencing 'growing pains.'
asserted
they → say → pains
The White House said that, after the digital team added it to the White House app, downloads went to the top of the Apple news apps chart, and the video announcing the launch drew over 300,000 views on YouTube.
But when Trump TV launched it had only around 8,000 viewers, which had halved less than two hours later.
asserted
which → say → viewers
At 2pm on Tuesday, only around 1,600 viewers were watching a Trump dinner with farmers in the Rose Garden, which was recorded in June.
asserted
which → watch → June
That was followed by a rerun of Vance's speech on anti-fraud measures in Wisconsin in July, for which viewership fell below 1,400.
asserted
viewership → follow → 1,400
By 8.30am on Wednesday, less than 600 people were watching an event from last Christmas.
asserted
people → watch → Christmas
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
