What's in the works for CNN if Trump gets say

The president has attacked the network for years and wants new leadership.

- BY STEPHEN BATTAGLIO

DELL CEO Michael Dell, left, President Trump and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna during a Wednesday confab.

(AARON SCHWARTZ Bloomberg via Getty Images)

President Trump wants a very different kind of CNN if the cable news channel's parent Warner Bros. Discovery changes hands.

As details emerge in the battle between Netflix and Paramount over control of the historic movie studio and its streaming and TV assets, Trump has made it clear he wants new ownership and leadership at the network that has been the prime target in his attacks on the mainstream media over the last decade.

"I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "I don't think they should be entrusted with running CNN any longer. So I think any deal should — it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Trump's sentiment Thursday from her lectern after a testy exchange with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins.

"Their ratings have declined, and I think the president rightfully believes that network would benefit from new ownership with respect to this deal," Leavitt said.

Trump has said he will be "involved" in the government's regulatory review of a WBD deal. Injecting the president's animus toward CNN — which goes back to his presidential campaign in 2016 — into the process has insiders at the network worried that journalistic independence will be sacrificed for the sake of a Warner Bros. Discovery deal.

CNN declined to comment.

A Wall Street Journal report said Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison has signaled to Trump administration officials he would make "sweeping changes" to CNN if his company took control. (A representative for Ellison declined comment.)