The White House launched a 24/7 "Trump TV" livestream on its official YouTube channel amid the administration’s ban on MSNBC, CNN, and Politico from White House access. At launch Monday night the stream peaked near 8,000 viewers, dipped to around 4,000 within the evening, and measured about 1,600 viewers Tuesday morning during early second-administration footage that included an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico “Gulf of America.” The launch came after the barred outlets filed a lawsuit and after ABC, Fox News, CBS, and NBC suspended pooled television coverage in solidarity. Critics including California Governor Gavin Newsom and the Lincoln Project compared the channel to state-run media in North Korea, China, and Russia; Newsom called it "truly autocratic behavior." White House deputy communications director Kaelan Dorr defended the stream as a 24/7 presentation of the administration’s "greatest hits, unfiltered." Journalist Juliet Jeske said she watched three hours and found only recycled footage, no new production value, and low viewership. The rollout has amplified legal and press-freedom tensions and prompted major networks to withhold pool coverage while the banned outlets pursue court action.
