The Trump Channel Is Coming to a Cable Lineup Near You!

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Donald Trump wants to make TV great again:

The breakout media star of 2016 is, inarguably, Donald Trump, who has masterfully—and horrifyingly—demonstrated an aptitude for manipulating the news cycle, gaining billions of dollars worth of free airtime, and dominating coverage on every screen. Now, several people around him are looking for a way to leverage his supporters into a new media platform and cable channel.

….According to several people briefed on the discussions, the presumptive Republican nominee is examining the opportunity presented by the “audience” currently supporting him. He has also discussed the possibility of launching a “mini-media conglomerate” outside of his existing TV-production business, Trump Productions LLC….Trump, this person close to the matter suggests, has become irked by his ability to create revenue for other media organizations without being able to take a cut himself. Such a situation “brings him to the conclusion that he has the business acumen and the ratings for his own network.”

I don’t know if this is true. But it should be true, don’t you think? It deserves to be true. Other candidates have used a presidential run as a platform for selling more books (Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich), but that’s small potatoes. Trump is bigger than those guys. He wants to use his presidential run as a platform for a new TV show.

No, wait. A new TV network. That’s the ticket. That’ll finally show everyone that he’s a better businessman than Dad ever was. And that’s what his entire career has always been about, hasn’t it?

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We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

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