Paramount CEO David Ellison met privately with President Donald Trump at the White House last week, just days before the president said publicly that he is “not involved” in the ongoing battle over Warner Bros. Discovery’s future, CNN reports.
Ellison and Trump held two wide-ranging discussions early last week as Paramount presses its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The timing is notable. In an interview with NBC’s Tom Llamas on Wednesday, Trump was asked about the competing transactions involving Paramount and Netflix. He responded, “I haven’t been involved.”
The comment marked a shift in tone.
In prior remarks, Trump had suggested he could take a more active interest in the situation and had signaled a preference for Paramount’s position.
Regulators in the Trump administration are currently reviewing Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to sell its studio assets and HBO to Netflix.
Paramount, meanwhile, is attempting to derail that agreement by appealing directly to shareholders with its own bid for the entire company, including CNN.
In the NBC interview, Trump acknowledged that both sides had reached out to him but emphasized that the process would be handled through proper legal channels.
“I must say, I guess I’m considered to be a very strong president,” Trump said. “I’ve been called by both sides. It’s the two sides, but I’ve decided I shouldn’t be involved. The Justice Department will handle it.”
Trump also referenced broader concerns being raised about market concentration. “There’s a theory that one of the companies is too big and it shouldn’t be allowed to do it, and the other company is saying something else. They’re beating the hell out of each other — and there’ll be a winner,” he said.
Two days after that interview, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department is examining whether Netflix “has engaged in anticompetitive tactics,” citing a subpoena. Netflix responded that it “is not aware of any investigation into our business outside of the standard merger review process.”
A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment on Ellison’s White House meetings. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Ellison has visited the White House multiple times during Trump’s second term, as has his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a longtime Trump ally. The family has maintained close ties to the administration.
Last December, The Wall Street Journal reported that David Ellison had offered assurances to administration officials that he would make significant changes at CNN if Paramount succeeded in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. Shortly after that report, Trump publicly said, “It’s imperative that CNN be sold,” and criticized the network’s leadership.
Under Warner Bros. Discovery’s current restructuring plan, CNN would not be part of the Netflix acquisition. The company intends to split into two publicly traded entities, with CNN and other cable channels placed under a separate company called Discovery Global.
Paramount has argued that its $30-per-share offer provides greater value than the Netflix transaction. A central part of that argument has been what Ellison describes as “a clear regulatory path” for Paramount’s proposal — a point analysts have linked to the Ellison family’s longstanding relationship with the president.
Larry Ellison is also part of the investor consortium operating TikTok’s U.S. business under an arrangement brokered during Trump’s presidency.
After the Ellison family took control of Paramount last year, Trump praised them publicly, saying, “They’re friends of mine. They’re big supporters of mine. And they’ll do the right thing. They’ll make CBS — they called it the Tiffany Network, and it’s got great potential. CBS has great potential.”
While Trump has said he will leave the matter to the Justice Department, the meetings underscore the high-profile nature of the media battle — and the level of interest it has generated at the White House.
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