On Monday, President Donald Trump’s private media company launched a streaming service that features content from another private media company, which just so happens to have a White House press pool spot. Seems fine!
Truth+ is the latest offering from Trump Media, a company that purports to be a multi-channel powerhouse but is really just a vehicle for Trump and his family to launch low-rent grift after low-rent grift.
Truth+ joins Trump Mobile, a low-rent cell phone plan; Truth.Fi, a low-rent financial services firm that will offer “America First” investments; and whatever other low-rent crypto grifts the Trump family is pushing these days. Anything for Trump to profit off of the presidency.
The new streaming service will feature Newsmax as a “flagship channel”, whatever that means. It’s genuinely pathetic that Newsmax, an outlet that has roughly 10% the viewership of Fox News, is going to be the star of the show. It’s also genuinely problematic that Trump is entering into a business partnership with a media company that he rewarded with a press pool spot despite Newsmax’s meager viewership.
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If this absolute rat’s nest of conflicts of interest wasn’t enough, how about the fact that the announcement of the launch boosted the stock price of both Trump Media and Newsmax?
Other outlets in the Truth+ lineup include luminaries such as Real America’s Voice, One America News Network, and Patriot TV. It’s good that OANN got a spot, since its viewership has been so low that it got booted from cable TV. Maybe the combination of Truth+ and primetime host Matt Gaetz will make the magic happen for the far-right network.
These outlets don’t have meaningful viewership or distinctive coverage, but they do have an in with the most corrupt president who is eager to make a buck. And make no mistake: Trump wants to affiliate with these tiny sycophantic outlets precisely because they are tiny and sycophantic. He loathes actual media coverage. The notion that a company might not praise Trump 24/7 is inconceivable to him.
He reacts to balanced—rather than subservient—news coverage by suing networks and demanding bribes—er, donations—to his nonexistent presidential library. He got $16 million from CBS News and $15 million from Disney by threatening the companies. Surely he’s happy about the rightward lurch of the Washington Post, once a venerable American icon.
The only real successes Trump Media has seen are in the crypto space, where buying the Trump family scam du jour is a quick and easy way to bribe the president. It’s not clear how Trump will make money off a streaming network of hard-right underperformers, but if anyone can figure out a way, it’s Trump.