Donald J. Trump’s attempt to create his own answer to the mainstream media is turning into a hilariously spectacular ratings flop.
After banning several major news organizations from the White House over what he called “fake news,” Trump launched “Trump TV,” which is essentially a 24-hour livestream on the White House YouTube channel featuring reruns of his speeches and appearances. Apparently, that's even too much for diehard MAGA fans.
The channel initially attracted around 8,500 viewers. But that audience has since completely evaporated. At around 2 a.m. Eastern, Trump TV had just 91 viewers—a staggering drop for a president who loves to call himself the “king of ratings," according to The Daily Beast.
And the competition isn’t exactly fierce. Trump TV has already been beaten by a livestream of a box fan, which attracted more than 1,500 viewers, as well as streams featuring rain sounds, brown noise, and even a pedicure. A recent accidental Instagram livestream by former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also drew more than 1,000 viewers while she was simply lying in bed with her baby.
The channel’s content probably isn’t helping. Its endless rotation includes old Trump speeches, including his January appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, along with appearances by Vice President JD Vance and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump has spent years obsessing over television ratings. The president’s latest media experiment is producing some rather brutal numbers that Trump will not like at all. And with Trump TV now struggling to attract even a few hundred viewers, his self-proclaimed title as the “king of ratings” is looking increasingly difficult to defend. How very sad.
