Donald Trump v Fox News: President 'plotting rival media company' after he leaves office
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Donald Trump is reportedly plotting to launch a digital media company to rival Fox News after a dramatic falling out with his once-preferred TV network.
The President has told friends he wants to start an online streaming platform that would hurt Fox financially and foster an even more loyal audience, according to Axios.
“He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it," a source with knowledge of Mr Trump's intentions told the website.
The media company, which would only be able to launch after the outgoing President leaves office, would allow Mr Trump to retain a powerful voice among conservatives and give him a boost in publicity should he decide to run again in 2024.
He has complained in recent weeks of the “unfair” coverage he has been given by Fox, which he claims is giving too many interviews to Democrats.
“@FoxNews daytime ratings have completely collapsed. Weekend daytime even WORSE. Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there,” he tweeted on Thursday.
“They forgot the Golden Goose," he wrote, referring to himself. "The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews.”
He also used a tweet to suggest to his favourite hosts - Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham - that they should quit "while there is time."
Mr Trump’s supporters have followed his lead, demonstrating a growing animosity towards the station - the first to call the state of Arizona for rival Joe Biden on election night.
According to reports, the President “blew up” upon hearing the announcement and told his aides to get the channel to reverse its decision.
Searching for an alternative, Trump voters have been flocking to a channel that claims Mr Biden is not President-elect and positions itself to the right of Fox.
Newsmax, a conservative news and opinion website founded in 1998 and owned by Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago friend Chris Ruddy, rarely had more than 50,000 viewers at any one time before the election, but their figures skyrocketed to 800,000 after Arizona was called by Fox and Associated Press.
"We love competition. We have always thrived with competition,” Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corp, said on a November 3 earnings call. “Fox News has been the number one network, including broadcast networks, ... from Labor Day through to Election Day."
