WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he wants to ensure CNN gets new ownership as part of the Warner Bros Discovery sale, targeting the news outlet he has long feuded with.
Warner Bros Discovery has become the center of a bidding war between Paramount — led by CEO David Ellison, son of Trump ally Larry Ellison — and streaming giant Netflix.
Under Paramount’s offer, CNN would fall into the Ellisons’ hands. Under the Netflix deal, Warner Bros Discovery would sell off CNN and other cable news properties separately before closing the sale of its studio and streaming operations to Netflix.
“I think any deal should — it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately,” Trump told business leaders Wednesday at the White House.
“I don’t think the people that are running that company right now and running CNN, which is a very dishonest group of people, I don’t think that should be allowed to continue. I think CNN should be sold along with everything else,” he added.
In a break from the norm, Trump has said he would be involved in the government’s decision to approve the deal, instead of leaving the question solely to the Department of Justice, as is typically the case.
US media reports indicate that both bidders — which Trump called “good companies” in his remarks — have lobbied the White House and Trump directly to support their bids.
Trump has long had a hostile relationship with CNN and other major news organizations, branding them “fake news” and attacking them repeatedly on social media.
His insistence that CNN end up in friendly hands appears to favor the Paramount bid — even though the Netflix deal would also involve selling off the news network to an as-yet-unknown buyer.
Since David Ellison took over Paramount earlier this year, the company has named journalist Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News.
Weiss is a prominent critic of what she calls bias in mainstream media, and the appointment won praise from conservatives who have long accused mainstream outlets of liberal bias.
Days before Ellison took the reins of CBS, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” a late-night staple and major Trump critic, was canceled.
But Trump railed against Paramount and Ellison on Monday, posting on Truth Social that “THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP” for allowing an interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene, a political ally-turned-critic.
Netflix, by contrast, is closely associated with Democrats, with founder Reed Hastings a major Democratic Party donor.
Trump demands CNN get new owners in Warner bidding war
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Trump demands CNN get new owners in Warner bidding war
- Under Paramount’s offer, CNN would fall into the Ellisons’ hands
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
