Skip to main content

Donald Trump goes all in on Facebook Live with nightly news show

trump tv nightly show donald
Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com
Donald Trump is launching a nightly Facebook Live show dedicated to news from the Trump camp.

The first broadcast kicked off on Monday evening from Trump Tower and lead into the Republican candidate’s campaign rally. Despite quashing rumors regarding the launch of a news network, speculatively dubbed Trump TV, the new program will add fuel to the fire concerning Trump’s plans to offer an alternative source of media coverage to his followers.

The nightly show is being hosted by senior campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, conservative commentator Tomi Lahren, and fellow Trump aide Cliff Sims. The first episode aired at 6.30 p.m. ET and featured guests Kellyanne Conway (Trump’s campaign manager), and adviser Jason Miller.

In his Facebook post announcing the show, Trump simply referred to it as part of his “campaign coverage.” Sims provided some additional information as to the motivation behind the broadcast in his introduction: “This is an effort by us … to give you the message straight from the campaign so you don’t have to take it through the media filter and all the spin … they put on it.”

Both Epshteyn and Sims hosted Trump’s previous Facebook Live news segment, which aired both before and after Trump’s final presidential debate against Hillary Clinton. The success of that broadcast (watched by 9 million viewers) undoubtedly led to the decision to create more live news content.

With over 11 million likes, Trump’s Facebook presence comes with a built-in audience. His campaign has already mastered live broadcasting, with a little help from Facebook and conservative media outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network (the latter produced Trump’s recent debates coverage). However, it remains to be seen whether Trump TV will expand beyond its current social media parameters. The answer will likely be revealed when the outcome to the general election has been decided. If Trump does end up at the helm of his very own news network, we assume he’ll have much to talk about.

Editors' Recommendations

Saqib Shah
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…
Zuckerberg: Facebook wouldn’t have fact-checked Trump
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaking on a panel at the Paley Center for Media

As President Donald Trump lashes out at Twitter for fact-checking two of his tweets and prepares an executive order targeting social media companies, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has weighed in — on Trump's side.

In an interview with Fox News set to air Thursday, May 28, Zuckerberg said that his social media company has "a different policy than Twitter on this."
“I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth," Zuckerberg told The Five co-host Dana Perino. "I think in general private companies — especially these platform companies — shouldn’t be in the position of doing that.”
Trump and many Republicans have criticized Twitter over the fact-check messages on Trump's tweets about mail-in voting, which alerted users to "get the facts" after Trump made an unsubstantiated claim that mail-in voting would lead to rampant voter fraud. Trump accused Twitter of censoring him and other conservative voices and vowed to take action against social media companies.

Read more
How to go live on Facebook
Facebook LIve

Facebook Live lets you livestream video directly from your Android or iOS device. Creating and streaming live content might sound like a challenge, but setting up a livestream within Facebook's mobile app is a fairly straightforward process. Here's how to go live.
Getting started
Step 1: The first step to setting up a livestream is to launch the Facebook app as you would normally. From the News Feed tab, locate the Live button just below the What's on Your Mind? section at the top of your display. (Note: The screenshots below are from the iOS version, but the steps also apply to Android.)

Step 2: Next, tap either the Live button or the What's on Your Mind? field at the top, the latter of which will bring up a host of additional options, including a Live Video button.

Read more
Facebook’s Zuckerberg had a ‘constructive’ meeting with President Trump
Mark Zuckerberg as he testified before Congress in April 2018.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shakes hands with President Trump at the White House on Thursday, September 19, 2019. The White House

Mark Zuckerberg met with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Thursday during a trip in which the Facebook CEO aimed to placate lawmakers concerned about the social network’s growing influence and privacy missteps.

Read more