Trump lashed out at Paramount, which owns CBS News, over a “60 Minutes” interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, reigniting an old beef with the show and potentially complicating Paramount’s already messy fight to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
“My real problem with the show” wasn’t Green, R-Ga., the president posted on Truth Social, “it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air. THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME! Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE! Oh well, far worse things can happen.”
The president’s post came while Paramount CEO David Ellison, whose father is major Trump donor Larry Ellison, was being interviewed on CNBC to defend his company’s hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount lost a bidding war for the company to Netflix, which agreed to buy Warner Bros.’ studios and HBO streaming assets, but Ellison isn’t deterred.
Trump’s dissatisfaction with Paramount could upend the regulatory process. Paramount and many critics within Hollywood have said a Netflix takeover of Warner Bros. would be anti-competitive. Trump himself said he could see an issue with Netflix gaining so much market share. But he also praised Netflix and co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who has reportedly cultivated a relationship with the president.
