It’s been something on political and media pundits’ minds for the past several months: if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump loses the election, what’s his next step?
Several theories have circulated, but none has held weight as much as the speculation that Trump will start up his own right-leaning TV channel, playfully dubbed “Trump TV” by the media. It seems that this theory has gained some credibility, based off a report published by the Financial Times on Monday morning, which stated that Trump’s son-in-law (who’s married to Ivanka Trump), Jared Kushner, informally approached LionTree Advisors chief executive Aryeh Bourkoff about setting up a Trump TV network after the presidential election.
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Kushner contacted Bourkoff, one of the media industry’s top dealmakers, within the last couple of months, the FT reported, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
The conversation between the two was brief and has not progressed since, the report said.
Mike Allen, chief White House correspondent for Politico, claims that Bourkoff never followed up with Trump because he had no interest in doing business with the GOP candidate.
Similarly, Trump told the Washington Post last month he had “no interest in a media company” and any suggestion that he was considering setting up one was “a false rumour.”
The idea of Trump TV doesn’t seem very far-fetched, despite his own denials about it — he’s made many comments during his campaign that seem to indicate a Trump-led media business could be in the cards come November.
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On multiple occasions, Trump has railed against the media, either claiming it’s inherently biased toward his opponent Hillary Clinton and left-leaning sensibilities or that it’s completely failing to relay any true message.
He’s also accused networks and news organizations of using him, essentially achieving high ratings and buzz off his TV persona without giving him any of the credit.
Vanity Fair‘s Sarah Ellison reported in June 2016 that Trump was planning to start a “media business” of some kind after the presidential election, regardless of the outcome. After gaining so many supporters during a presidential campaign, it would make sense to build on that platform, Ellison claimed.
“Trump is indeed considering creating his own media business, built on the audience that has supported him thus far in his bid to become the next president of the United States,” she wrote. “According to several people briefed on the discussions, the presumptive Republican nominee is examining the opportunity presented by the ‘audience’ currently supporting him.”
Amanda Alvaro, president of Pomp and Circumstance PR in Toronto, thinks that Trump would have no problem moving his support base from the political arena to the world of television media.
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“Trump has a very loyal, die-hard following,” she said. “And they will certainly be keen to participate in his next TV venture, whatever that may be.”
“The only thing predictable about Trump is his unpredictability,” continued Alvaro. “I imagine a no-holds-barred, Fox-like channel that attempts — probably in vain — to act like the anti-media.”
CNN president Jeff Zucker emphasized the difficulty of putting together a “Trump network” during a Harvard forum last week.
“It’s harder to do than people think it is,” Zucker said. “I think it’s possible, but I’d be surprised if that happened. But I don’t know.”
Currently, Fox News and Breitbart News Network are the established pillars of right-wing media in the United States. Would there even be a market or space for another monolithic media organization in the U.S.? Alvaro thinks Trump’s options would be better if he focused on a single-show format rather than trying to assemble and pitch an entire network.
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“I think a show devoted to Trump has a greater likelihood of success than fuelling an entire network,” she said. “They would have to carve into an established channel and find some white space. But never say never; the right combination of former Fox/Breitbart executives could be keen on leveraging the Trump brand to get something like this on the air. Or at least on digital.”
And Canadians shouldn’t expect to see a Trump TV channel north of the border any time soon.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see, post-election, if Trump TV will ever exist. Americans elect their next president on Nov. 8.
At the time of this writing, neither Kushner or LionTree have commented on the possibility of Trump TV coming to life.
With files from Reuters
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