Warner Bros. Discovery is going to need the approval of the Trump administration to push through a sale to either Netflix or Paramount Skydance in the coming months. President Donald Trump says he believes it’s “imperative” that CNN be sold as part of the deal.
While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Trump shared that he viewed the bidders of WBD as “some good companies”, before stating that any sale, in his view, must include CNN moving to a new organization.
“I think the people that have run CNN for the last, long period of time are a disgrace,” Trump said. “I think it’s imperative that CNN be sold, because you certainly wouldn’t want to put people, just leave those people with some money, good money, and CNN, so that they can spend even more money spreading poison, because it’s lies. It’s a disgrace.
“So I wouldn’t want to see the same company end up with CNN, the same company with money, because right now, they don’t have too much money,” continued Trump. “But they have value, I guess, based on the bids … But I think CNN should be sold because I think the people that are running CNN right now … are either corrupt or incompetent.”
Under the proposed terms of a deal with Netflix, CNN and the other cable networks owned by Warner Bros. Discovery would be spun off into a separate entity, while streaming giant would take ownership of the WBD TV studio, HBO, and the HBO Max streaming platform.
Paramount Skydance’s bid, meanwhile, would include ownership of CNN.
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