What is the future of Donald Trump’s media empire?
The president’s media team is struggling to keep up with the demands of the White House and his allies are reportedly pulling the plug on many of the most popular television shows, newspapers and magazines.
In the latest sign that the White Trump is going through a major transition, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that NBCUniversal, which owns NBCUniversal News Corp., has pulled out of the Trump TV brand.
The Trump Entertainment and Entertainment Weekly (TWE) brands are the only major broadcast and cable channels that are not part of the presidential administration.
NBCUniversal has been working to keep Trump’s cable channels afloat by airing a few more scripted and live-action shows like “The Apprentice,” “Celebrity Apprentice” and “The Celebrity Apprentice,” as well as some new original series and shows from Trump and his advisers.
In an interview with The Wall St. Journal, NBCUniversal Chief Executive Officer Gary Newman said that he and other senior executives are “not going to be doing anything” to “help him sell the media.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NBC also declined to comment.
The Journal said the news was confirmed by a source familiar with the matter.
Trump and several of his advisers are reportedly trying to sell NBC’s cable networks to a network that is owned by Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News, which is also part of The Wall.
The Wall’s sources said that NBC’s plans to sell the Fox-owned network were in the works for several months before the White’s departure.
The sale of Fox would give the Trump administration leverage in negotiations with Fox News to secure a better deal for Fox and other Fox News affiliates that do not receive Trump advertising.
The White is also trying to get NBC to buy some of the other cable channels owned by the Trump family.
CNN and MSNBC are both owned by News Corp. But NBC has been reluctant to buy CNN, a cable news network that has been critical of the president and whose coverage has been widely criticized by his allies in Congress.
The president and his top advisers also are reportedly pushing for NBC to sell some of its networks to AT&T.
But the White has yet to make a formal offer for AT&, which also owns DirecTV, according to a source with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The New York Times reported in April that Trump and the White had begun to make moves to buy AT&T.
A spokesman for AT &t declined to confirm or deny the reports Tuesday.
NBC, meanwhile, has been struggling to get its news channels to air.
The WSJ reported Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with its plans, that NBC has canceled “Saturday Night Live” and the “The Voice,” as it tries to keep its cable channels alive.
The network also has canceled several comedy series, including “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” which will air as an online series.
The news comes just two weeks after the president’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told the Wall Street journal that the administration was not looking to sell its television channels.
“We are not in the business of selling television or broadcasting,” she said.
“If we were to sell our networks, that would be something we would look at very seriously.”
