U.S. President Donald Trump has been hammered by critics after his media ban backfired on Monday, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the White House being broadcast to the world without any audio.
The President was unveiling his new granite helipad on the South Lawn surrounded by construction workers. The pad, estimated to cost $6 million, was built for the powerful new Marine One helicopter which has caused scorching on the lawn.
But the absence of the television press pool, made up of ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN and NBC, meant there was silence when Trump began speaking because the White House’s own video had no usable audio.
The major networks announced Monday that they were suspending presidential TV pool coverage after the Trump administration barred journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico over the weekend.
The White House livestream was carried by Trump-friendly Newsmax, which cut to footage of the president speaking outside the White House but none of his comments were audible.
The resulting lack of standard audio equipment and boom microphones left the president effectively speaking without amplification, drawing immediate mockery from commentators and even airing networks.
‘Okay, there is no microphone because the pool cameras aren’t there,’ the anchor told viewers.
‘So maybe this is one example of this backfiring just a little bit … the ramifications are right here – can’t hear what the president is saying.’
The footage quickly drew mockery on social media as clips of the event spread online.
Veteran Capitol Hill correspondent Jamie Dupree wrote: ‘Here is what happens when you don’t have the White House TV Pool. You have video of Trump – but you can’t hear what the President is saying.’
Another X user posted: ‘He wants to be a dictator so bad he banned the press without realizing it would silence his own voice!’
The White House launched its own app on Monday, promising ‘real-time updates and live events streamed DIRECTLY to your phone.
‘No noise. Just the news that matters most – straight from the Trump Administration,’ it posted on X.
