As the world reacted to the US election outcome last week, the mood at GB News was jubilant.
“The Trump victory is ultimately a victory for Britain too,” said presenter Mark Dolan during one of the channel’s signature monologues, adding: “We are done with the woke crap.”
Ecstatic about Trump’s return to the White House, GB News was quick to gloat. In a column for the channel’s website in the wake of the result, former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng took aim at the “arrogance and stupidity from whining Lefties”.
Yet the internal celebrations were not purely political. For GB News, which is grappling with mounting losses and a looming £100,000 fine from regulator Ofcom, the result could not come at a more crucial time.
For many in the industry, the outlook for GB News looked bleak as it struggled to stem losses and repeatedly fell foul of broadcasting rules. But could the return of Trump offer the lifeline it so desperately needs?
As the dust settles on the election, executives at GB News are keen to seize on America’s shift to the Right. Their biggest asset is undoubtedly Nigel Farage, the Reform leader who has a prime-time show on the channel and is widely seen as Trump’s closest ally in Britain.
Before the election, he offered to “bridge the divide” between a Trump administration and Sir Keir Starmer’s Government in an unofficial ambassadorial role – an offer that was swiftly rejected.
Farage, who was paid almost £98,000 by GB News in August, has also boasted of being the only British person in the room as he celebrated the win at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort last week.
These ties put Farage – and therefore GB News – in pole position among UK broadcasters to secure interviews with the new president.
The Reform leader’s case is strengthened by the fact he interviewed Trump several times in the run-up to the election.