President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that CNN be part of any sale of the Warner Bros. Studios.
"I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace," Trump told reporters from the White House Wednesday. "I think it's imperative that CNN be sold because you certainly wouldn't want to put people, just leave those people with some money, good money at CNN so that, you know, they can spend even more money spreading poison because it's lies. It's a disgrace. So, I wouldn't want to see the same company end up with CNN.
"I think CNN should be sold because I think the people that are running CNN right now ... are either corrupt or incompetent."
While he conceded he could be talked out of wanting CNN to be sold with Warner Bros., Trump maintained that those who've been running CNN have "run CNN into the ground."
"Nobody watches. Very few people watch. I don't think they should be entrusted with running CNN any longer," Trump said. "So, I think any deal should be a guarantee and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately. But 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."
Of the two potential buyers, Netflix has made an offer for just the studio and HBO, while Paramount is seeking the entirety of CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Neither Warner Bros. Discovery nor Netflix responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. A spokesperson for CNN declined to comment.
In October, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was putting itself up for sale. It previously said it was going to split into two companies — one for the studio and HBO, the other being the cable networks within the corporate umbrella.
Before Netflix emerged last week as the victor of the bidding war, it had seemed that Paramount owner David Ellison was in the driver's seat, only to be off-roaded by the streaming giant on Friday with its nearly $83 billion offer. On Monday, Paramount launched a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for the entire company, including its cable assets like CNN.
Trump's comments will likely loom over the bidding war because his administration could be a hurdle for both Netflix and Paramount to buy Warner Bros.
CNN staffers are largely feeling "grim" about the prospects of CNN being owned by Ellison, who Trump has a cozy relationship with.
Network insiders say that their colleagues worry Ellison would overhaul CNN's editorial decisions the way he has with CBS News with his appointment of Bari Weiss as its editor-in-chief.
"They see CBS as a complete and utter s--- show, which it was before this to be honest," one CNN staffer told Fox News Digital, conceding "our organization is also in chaos and crisis."
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In August, Ellison took over Paramount as part of its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. The deal was plagued by politics as Paramount settled Trump's election interference lawsuit against the company over CBS News' handling of the "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Liberal critics accused Paramount of "bending the knee" to Trump in order for his FCC to approve the merger. They also expressed outrage over CBS' cancellation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," which will stop airing after May 2026. The network insisted it was purely a financial decision, though critics believe it was also tied to the FCC-approved merger.
During a CNBC interview Monday, Ellison was asked whether he would combine CNN and CBS News' newsgathering operations. He dodged the question, speaking instead about the broader goal he has for news, which is getting into the "trust" and "truth business" that "speaks to the 70% of Americans in the middle," a sentiment previously echoed by Weiss.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ellison had told Trump officials that he'd make sweeping changes to CNN if he became its owner and that Trump has been vocal about wanting CNN to have new ownership that will make programming changes.
"I think everyone wants to be fair," a second CNN staffer said. "I don't think [CNN colleagues] see Ellison as trying to target the political middle. I think they think he is kowtowing to Trump."
Trump has so far had a more agnostic approach to the bidding war despite his close relationship with Ellison, and his father, billionaire Larry Ellison. Last week, Trump praised Netflix as a "great company" and called its CEO, Ted Sarandos, a "fantastic man" but expressed concern about its market share.
On Monday, he refrained from saying he supported Paramount's bid despite it being partially financed by his son-in-law Jared Kushner's private equity firm, Affinity Partners, something Trump told reporters he hadn't discussed with Kushner.
Meanwhile, Trump blasted Paramount over the "60 Minutes" interview featuring ally-turned-foe Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., writing on Truth Social that the new ownership is "NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP."