Trump turns on CBS, Kushner pulls out and Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros. shows signs of collapse

“For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that 60 Minutes has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover,’ than they have ever treated me before,” Trump said. “If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!”

Paramount had entered the bidding for Warner, with its $77.9 billion offer for all of Warner Bros. Discovery coming one working day after Netflix’s $72 billion offer for the studio and HBO Max, as a seeming friend of the White House.

CEO David Ellison has repeatedly highlighted his ties to Trump, with his father Larry a longtime Trump donor (and second-richest man alive). CBS News, under Ellison, recently installed Bari Weiss, owner of independent news organization The Free Press and a prominent critic of progressive media culture, in a senior editorial role, a move widely read in Hollywood and Washington as gestures toward an anti-“woke” White House. Kushner’s participation, as son-in-law to the President, reinforced that impression. His roughly $200 million equity commitment via his firm functioned, some analysts said, as a political signal as much as a financing tool.

Trump’s outburst disrupted that calculus. By openly distancing himself from Paramount and criticizing its flagship news division, the president stripped the bid of its most implicit advantage: the perception of regulatory goodwill. Almost immediately after Trump’s post circulated, Affinity announced it was exiting the deal, citing a shift in “investment dynamics” amid competition from Netflix. Now, reports indicate that Warner Bros. plans to reject Paramount’s hostile bid over financing concerns. 

Trump’s public remarks have continuously scrambled assumptions about his supposed friendships, or loyalties. He confirmed to reporters at the Kennedy Center, the weekend after Netflix’s bid, that he had met with Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who he called a “fantastic man.” Later, he said that neither Paramount nor Netflix were “great friends” of his. As the corporate takeover saga unfolds, who will be revealed next as friend or enemy?