WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump sharply denounced CBS on Monday for an interview with his political ally-turned-foe Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, criticizing the news network's ownership as it mounts a bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
"My real problem with the show, however, wasn’t the low IQ traitor, it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, using a disparaging nickname to refer to Greene.
"They are no better than the old ownership, who just paid me millions of dollars for fake reporting about your favorite President, me! Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten worse! Oh well, far worse things can happen," he added.
CBS was brought under the Skydance banner following a merger with Paramount that was completed in August. It is unclear what Trump meant by "far worse things" potentially happening, but Paramount Skydance earlier Monday announced a hostile bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
The $108.4 billion bid, made directly to investors, came after Warner Bros. entered into an agreement with Netflix on Friday for the streaming giant to acquire its film and television studios, HBO Max, and HBO.
The deal is being financed, in part, by Affinity Partners, an investment firm owned by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner with major financial backing from Saudi Arabia, according to a regulatory filing first reported on by Axios. The sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE are also listed as the deal's financers.
The cash-and-stock transaction was valued at $27.75 per WBD share, amounting to $72 billion, and a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion.
Antitrust concerns have been raised by Netflix's proposed acquisition, particularly because it would combine two of the biggest streaming services. The Trump administration expressed "heavy skepticism," according to CNBC, with Trump saying on Sunday that the combined market share of Netflix and HBO "could be a problem."
Any final deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery will require regulatory approval, and analysts had pegged Paramount SkyDance as most likely to clear government hurdles because of the ownership family's strong ties to the Trump administration.
David Ellison serves as Paramount SkyDance CEO, and is the son of close Trump ally Oracle co-founder and centibillionaire Larry Ellison.
Kushner's participation in the company's bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery only bolsters the case that Paramount SkyDance will emerge victorious, according to Axios.
Greene, a onetime stalwart ally of the president's, has been one on the outs with Trump since she broke ranks with him, demanding the release of all government records related to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Trump had long resisted the demands, but caved under sweeping pressure from his fellow Republicans, signing into law last month a bill that compels the Justice Department to publish the documents.
Greene, who is slated to retire from office a year early amid her dispute with Trump, said Republicans are "terrified to step out of line" with the president.
"I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him, to when he won the primary in 2024 they all started, excuse my language, Lesley, kissing his ***, and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time," she said during her interview with CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday.