President takes star role in battle for Warner Bros businesses

Over the first 10 months of his second presidency, Donald Trump has not hidden his desire to control the US media industry - from encouraging TV networks to fire journalists, comedians and critics he dislikes to pushing regulators to revoke broadcast licences. Now he seems determined to set the terms for one of the biggest media deals in history.

- Jeremy Barr

It's a deal that could have repercussions not just in the US but across the world, with the future of Hollywood at stake and the landscape of news.

Another American president would probably have politely declined to comment when asked by a reporter about a huge media merger that would require fact-driven oversight and regulatory approval by a purportedly independent-minded branch of their administration.

But when Trump was asked on Sunday about Netflix's $82.7bn (£61.8bn) deal to acquire the studio and streaming businesses of Warner Bros Discovery - the media group whose assets run the gamut from Batman and Casablanca to The Sopranos, Succession and CNN - he didn't hesitate to say he would be "involved" in the review process for the deal. Days later a media conglomerate with close ties to his administration, Paramount Skydance - the company behind the Paramount Pictures movie studios, CBS US TV network, and Channel 5 in Britain - countered with a hostile $108bn offer for the company.

Trump then offered a contrasting commentary on his role. "I'm not involved in that," he told reporters on Wednesday, before adding: "I will be probably involved - maybe involved in the decision.

It depends. You have some good companies bidding on it." Contradicting himself, Trump then laid out a condition for his support of a deal: the company that purchases WBD's studio, HBO, and its streaming assets must also acquire its television channels and make big changes at the cable news network he has long despised, CNN.

"I think CNN should be sold, because I think the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent," he said.

Only Paramount-run and backed by Trump supporters - had bid for the entire company.