US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he wants CNN to end up under new ownership as part of any sale of Warner Bros Discovery, taking aim once again at the news network he has frequently accused of bias.
Warner Bros Discovery is currently the subject of competing takeover bids from Paramount — led by CEO David Ellison, the son of Trump ally Larry Ellison — and streaming giant Netflix.
Paramount’s offer would place CNN under the Ellison family’s control. Netflix’s proposal, however, calls for CNN and other cable news divisions to be sold off separately before Netflix completes its purchase of Warner’s studio and streaming assets.
Speaking to business leaders at the White House, Trump said: “I think any deal should — it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately… I don’t think the people that are running that company right now and running CNN, which is a very dishonest group of people, I don’t think that should be allowed to continue.”
He added that CNN “should be sold along with everything else,” signalling that he wants changes in leadership at the network.
Breaking from standard practice, Trump has said he intends to personally weigh in on the government’s review of the deal, a role traditionally left to the Department of Justice. US media reports say both bidders — described by Trump as “good companies” — have lobbied the White House directly for support.
Trump’s longstanding feud with CNN, which he regularly labels “fake news,” appears to tilt his preference toward the Paramount bid, although the Netflix plan would also remove the network from its current ownership.
Since David Ellison took charge at Paramount earlier this year, the company has appointed journalist Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News, a move welcomed by conservatives who have accused major media outlets of liberal bias. Around the same time, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” a longtime critic of Trump, was cancelled.
Still, Trump lashed out at Paramount and Ellison on Monday, criticizing the company on Truth Social for airing an interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time ally who has turned into a critic. He wrote: “THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP.”
Netflix, meanwhile, is widely perceived as closer to Democratic circles, with founder Reed Hastings known as a major donor to the party.
