Angling for a copyright suit, the White House uses SpongeBob, Batman to promote Trump TV

As for the “latest and greatest from the administration,” it’s unclear how Trump TV will cover the president as he shuffles from one place to the next. After Donald Trump banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House press pool last week, citing “negative coverage” that made him feel bad, a network boycott of pool coverage by CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC, and CBS followed and will continue until the decision is reversed. For now, the livestream is replaying older clips of the president audibly spewing his rhetoric into a microphone, which at least is more than the current state of presidential television pool coverage can manage.

Now, with Trump TV, the world has a media source designed to make the rest of us feel bad, especially taxpayers who realize that a portion of their hard-earned money—that could go to paying off debt or hospital bills or other frivolous things—is being put toward the production of promos featuring popular characters watching TV, because “TV” is part of “Trump TV” and this is the extent of their creativity. The new promo was trumpeted by Kaela Dorr, head of digital strategy and a deputy assistant at the White House, who posted on her X account, “Welcome to TrumpTV The press, in some cases, reported inaccurately or not at all on the Administration’s many record breaking accomplishments on behalf of all Americans. Trump TV is a 24/7 livestream of the Administration’s greatest hits, unfiltered. All on the White House YouTube Channel and Official App ENJOY!!”

Set to a hideous remix of The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star”—who may also have a little lawsuit on their hands if they’re looking for one—Trump TV actionably blasts images from cherished pop-culture institutions such as The Simpsons, The Office, Breaking Bad, Home Alone, Seinfeld, Friends, and (oh hell, why not) Family Guy. Maybe its use of SpongeBob SquarePants and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is safe, given that the Trump-DOJ-approved merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery is now clear to move forward. “Not every big moment has made it on your tv,” the White House’s X post wheezed defiantly at us, “now it can.”