Trump says he wants a new owner for CNN as part of any sale of Warner Bros. Discovery: ‘A very dishonest group of people'

Core Viewpoint - Donald Trump is advocating for a new owner for CNN as part of the sale of its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), indicating a preference for Paramount Skydance's bid over Netflix's [1][3]. Group 1: Sale Dynamics - Netflix has agreed to purchase WBD's Warner Bros. studio and HBO Max streaming service, while keeping CNN's current management in place [2]. - Paramount Skydance aims to acquire all of WBD, including CNN, and intends to place CNN under the leadership of Bari Weiss from CBS [2]. - Trump has emphasized that any deal should ensure CNN is either included or sold separately, criticizing the current management as "dishonest" [4][17]. Group 2: Trump's Influence - Trump's comments reflect his direct involvement in the review of the WBD sale, aiming to exert pressure to align the deal with his political objectives [3][12]. - He has expressed a desire for CNN's alleged anti-MAGA bias to be "neutralized," which is a reason for his support of the Ellisons in the bidding contest [13]. - Paramount's pitch to WBD shareholders includes the promise of "regulatory certainty" from the Trump administration, arguing it has less antitrust overlap with WBD compared to Netflix [13]. Group 3: Bidding War - Paramount Skydance has launched a "hostile bid" with an all-cash offer of $30 per share, which is positioned as superior to Netflix's cash-stock offer of $30.75 per share [15]. - The bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix could escalate the winning price to $35 per share, valuing WBD at approximately $91 billion, compared to its pre-sale market value of around $31 billion [16].