As the bidding war drama over Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) continues, President Donald Trump has reportedly shared his wishes for CNN should Paramount Skydance acquire the company’s assets. His vision for the network is said to involve making it MAGA-friendly like Fox News, which could mean a major overhaul of the hosting lineup that currently includes Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper and Abby Phillip.
The reports come after Paramount launched a hostile counter offer for WBD on Monday (December 8), despite the announcement on Friday (December 5) that Netflix had reached an agreement to buy WBD’s film and TV studios, HBO, and HBO Max.
While Netflix’s deal doesn’t include WBD’s linear television assets, the Paramount bid is for everything, meaning WBD’s many cable networks, including CNN, Discovery, TBS, HGTV, etc.
According to The Wall Street Journal, David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount and the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, has assured Trump administration officials that he would make “sweeping changes” to CNN if WBD were to come under his ownership.
The outlet also claims that Trump has told people close to him that he wants to see CNN under new ownership, which would involve changes to the long-running news network’s programming.
A White House official also reportedly told WSJ that Larry himself called the President after the Netflix deal was announced and said if the transaction went through, it would hurt competition. This comes after critics of the potential Netflix-WBD deal have said it would break antitrust laws.
Speaking to reporters at the Kennedy Center Honors event on Sunday (December 7), Trump said Netflix has a “big market share” and combining with WBD “could be a problem.”
It was previously reported that senior White Officials preferred Paramount to acquire WBD. According to The Guardian, a source said Larry spoke with Trump in November about potential changes he’d like to see at CNN, including possibly axing certain hosts, such as Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, who have drawn the President’s ire over the years.
The conversation was described as “informal,” given that Larry does not have a formal role at Paramount. However, he does hold the majority ownership stake in the company.
In addition, Paramount’s latest bid includes financial backing from the Public Investment Fund (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), L’imad Holding Company PJSC (Abu Dhabi), Qatar Investment Authority (Qatar), and Affinity Partners, the investment firm run by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Trump was asked by reporters at the Oval Office on Monday about Kushner’s involvement in the bid and whether that would impact his decision. Any deal for WBD requires government approval.
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The President said he didn’t know “enough about it” to comment yet, adding, per Mediaite, “I know the companies very well. I know what they’re doing, but I have to see. I have to see what percentage of market they have. We have to see the Netflix percentage of market, Paramount, the percentage of market.”
He continued, “I mean, none of them are particularly great friends of mine. You know, I just want to do what’s right. It’s so very important to do what’s right.”
The news of a potential MAGA-friendly CNN comes after the network’s lead anchor, Anderson Cooper, reportedly agreed to a new contract. Despite interest from the Paramount-owned CBS News, sources told Variety that Cooper recently signed a new deal with CNN.
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