CHANGE THE CHANNEL

The Vultures Are Circling CNN: Wolff

This is what will happen to the long-lauded TV network, and to Donald Trump’s deep, abiding hatred for it.

Opinion

The fate of CNN, undoubtedly the world’s most famous name in news, hangs in the balance. Donald Trump, as much as anyone, continues to think that CNN is CNN. He hates it for that—and he thinks he’s using his power to kill it. To sum up the state of play as quickly as I can: David Ellison has used his father, Larry Ellison’s, money to take control of Paramount. Larry is a Trump supporter, and Trump helped push the deal through. The Ellisons’ bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (crucially, CNN is part of WBD) was immediately countered by a bid from Netflix—which the WBD board preferred and hurried to accept. But then the Ellisons bid more. The Ellisons getting this deal would mean that Trump had well and truly vanquished CNN, his enemy. So a whole bunch of blue state attorneys general got together and sued to stop the deal. But then came the Ellisons’ ju-jitsu move: They agreed to delay the deal if all sides would accept an early trial date—which, this week, was set for March 2027. News is not really the point for David Ellison... And he is not dumb enough to go to trial. This leaves Trump with a surprise ending—and CNN with a fate no one saw coming.

Click through and subscribe to Michael Wolff’s HOWL on Substack to see how the media war actually plays out.