Donald Trump Aides Test Waters Of Possible 'Trump TV': Reports

Some of Donald Trump's top aides are putting feelers out for a possible "Trump TV" network after the election should the GOP nominee lose in November, according to multiple reports published Monday.

Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, a New York investor who owns the New York Observer, reportedly contacted Aryeh Bourkoff, an influential media investor, about the possibilities of a network centered on Trump's fiery brand of populism, the Financial Times first reported Monday.

The report said the conversation "was brief and has not progressed since." Read the full story from the Financial Times here.

The Wall Street Journal followed up later Monday with a more extensive look at possibilities for a Trump TV.

The Journal noted that Kushner's meeting with Bourkoff was brief, and "Bourkoff wasn’t interested and didn’t pursue the project." But it said Trump's people are exploring other possibilities.

A Trump TV network could follow the Glenn Beck model — build a loyal online audience through a paid subscription streaming service, then convince television providers to add the channel to pricey cable lineups.

"The primary business model that was being explored was a subscription online video service similar to Glenn Beck’s GBTV, which later became TheBlaze, according to the people familiar with the matter," The Journal's report said. "It might be possible to use such a venture as a launchpad for a cable-TV channel."

Read the full story from the Wall Street Journal here.

These aren't the first reports to mention the possibility of a TV network built around Trump. Vanity Fair reported in July that Trump and his team were looking for ways to leverage his rise to political stardom and massive commercial appeal into a cable TV network.

And with recent polls showing Trump losing ground in the last few weeks in his presidential race against Hillary Clinton, Trump and his surrogates may be looking ahead to what's next.

Trump and his campaign, though, are unlikely to confirm any rumors about a Trump television network with Election Day still three weeks away. A Trump campaign spokeswoman did not respond to an email from Patch seeking confirmation of the discussion between Kushner and Bourkoff and more information about a potential television network.

If he were to go through with this or a similar plan, Trump wouldn't have to look far for guidance.

He recently hired as his campaign CEO Steve Bannon, who helped turn Breitbart into the fiery, far-right website that it is today. Trump has leveraged Bannon's experience building up Breitbart for his own campaign, whose core supporters have ideologies similar to that of the populist website.

In an interview with the Washington Post last month, Bannon denied that he was looking into a TV network.

"I have no interest in a media company," Bannon told the Post. "False rumor."

Trump is also being advised by Roger Ailes, the former chairman of Fox News who was ousted in July after several women came forward to say Ailes sexually harassed them on the job.

The extent of Ailes' involvement in the Trump campaign is unclear, but he has reportedly been advising Trump during debate prep.

Ailes played a critical role in building Fox News into the conservative juggernaut and highest-rated cable news network in the country.

This story will be updated.