Demand Progress

Trumpworld is excited for Paramount’s deal to buy Warner Brothers, because Trump ally David Ellison will gain control of another massive chunk of American media and entertainment, including CNN.

Pete Hegseth sneered at CNN’s coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in a press conference, calling it “fake news” and saying, “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”¹ Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr said this industry-defining mega-merger should get approved “pretty quickly.”²

Ellison and Trump are plotting “sweeping changes” at CNN, a frequent target of Trump’s anti-media vitriol.³ And CNN is just one of the many media properties Paramount would get in this deal. Congress must stop this dangerous, Trump-serving mega-merger!

Sign the petition: Block the sale of Warner Brothers to Trump allies at Paramount!

“This administration is saying the quiet part out loud: We will put our thumb on the scale, regardless of the merits, to benefit our friends and punish our enemies without regard to the law,” said one antitrust official from the Obama administration.⁴

Last year, Paramount announced their deal would be backed by $24 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth funds.⁵ Trump has already struck a number of extremely concerning deals with Gulf states that put U.S. national security at risk, deeply compromise the White House, and make Trump family crypto ventures more profitable.⁶

The mounting pro-Trump media takeover is a key part of the administration’s authoritarian power grab. Congress must step in as the Trump admin tries to push this deal through.

Sign the petition: Block the Paramount-Warner Brothers mega-merger.

Sources:

1. The Washington Post, "The Ellisons are building a media empire. Trump keeps cheering them on.,” March 17, 2026.
2. CNBC, "FCC chief tells CNBC WBD-Paramount merger deal is ‘cleaner’ than Netflix's, will be approved 'quickly',” March 3, 2026.
3. The Wall Street Journal, "Behind Paramount’s Relentless Campaign to Woo Warner Discovery and President Trump,” December 8, 2025.
4. The Washington Post, "The Ellisons are building a media empire. Trump keeps cheering them on.,” March 17, 2026.
5. Deadline, "Paramount Unveils Jared Kushner, Middle East Sovereign Funds As Backers Of Now Hostile WBD Bid; China’s Tencent Out,” December 8, 2025.
6. United States Senate Committee On Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, "Warren, Van Hollen Call on Trump and Trump Family to Divest from World Liberty Financial; Sound Alarm on Foreign Governments Using Trump Crypto to Curry Presidential Favors,” May 13, 2025.