Wall Street Journal: Trump Supports Paramount–Warner Bros. Merger to Push for CNN Leadership Change; Saudi and Qatari Money Behind Paramount’s $108 Billion Bid
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Paramount has revealed that its $108 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery is backed by Jared Kushner as well as China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The company’s final and strongest offer includes investments from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the UAE’s PJSC holding company, Qatar’s Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), and the Affinity Partners investment fund led by former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Kushner is involved through this fund in the $55 billion sale of Electronic Arts, while Qatar and the UAE are investors in Affinity. China’s Tencent, which participated in Paramount’s earlier proposals, withdrew from the latest one.
Paramount announced on Monday that it had submitted a $108 billion acquisition offer to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders — even though Netflix already confirmed last Friday that it had reached a deal with Warner to purchase its studios and streaming assets. Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will decide on the Paramount–Skydance proposal within the next ten business days.
Trump said Sunday night at the Kennedy Center Honors that the sale of Warner Bros. Discovery to Netflix “may pose a problem,” adding that he will be involved in determining its legality. However, he did not mention his son-in-law’s involvement in the competing deal.
Although Trump attempted to appear neutral, the Wall Street Journal reports that he has other motivations. The 79-year-old president has told associates that he wants the leadership of CNN to change, and David Ellison has reportedly assured the Trump administration that such a change would occur if Skydance acquires Warner Bros. Discovery.
Sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal say that after Netflix announced its agreement with Warner, Larry Ellison, billionaire father of David Ellison, called Trump to warn him about Netflix’s growing dominance in the market.
In recent days Trump repeatedly attacked CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins, calling her “always dumb and unattractive” on Truth Social:
“She asked why I’m spending more on the White House’s new ballroom than I estimated a year ago.”
He added: “Fake News CNN, and the man who runs that corrupt operation and owns it, are the worst in the business. Their ratings are so low they’re practically impossible to measure. MAGA!”
Nevertheless, Trump said Monday that he supports neither Paramount nor Netflix:
“We’ll have to see how much market share they take. Neither one of them is exactly a close friend of mine. You know, I just want to do the right thing. Doing what’s right is very important.”
