War Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing Friday that he was looking forward to CNN being controlled by David Ellison.
"The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better," Hegseth said.
Ellison is the CEO of Paramount Skydance, which has agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN.
Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a supporter of President Donald Trump, whose administration must approve the deal.
Hegseth made the comments while criticizing news coverage of the U.S. military operation in Iran, saying it was overly negative and failed to highlight the operation's military achievements.
"For example, a banner, a headline, 'Mideast War Intensifies,' splashing on the screen the last couple of days alongside visuals of civilian or energy targets that Iran has hit because that is what they do," said the former Fox News host.
"What should the banner read instead? How about 'Iran Increasingly Desperate?' Because they are," Hegseth said.
"They know it and so do you, if it can be admitted."
He also criticized a CNN report that said the Trump administration significantly underestimated Iran's willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz if it came under military attack.
"Fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course," Hegseth said.
"For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do: Hold the strait hostage," he said.
"CNN doesn't think we thought of that. It's a fundamentally unserious report."
But David Ellison has vowed to maintain CNN's editorial appearance.
"CNN is an incredible brand with an incredible team, and we absolutely believe in the independence that needs to be maintained for those incredible journalists, and we want to support that going forward," he said on CNBC.
"Editorial independence will absolutely be maintained. It is maintained at CBS; it will be maintained at CNN."
David Ellison took control of CBS last year when Skydance acquired Paramount, the network's parent company.
He appointed Bari Weiss, founder of the news and commentary website The Free Press, to run the network's news division, which has come under scrutiny by liberals who perceive a pro-Trump bias in its coverage.
"We stand by our reporting," CNN said in a statement in response to Hegseth's remarks.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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