Vlad Putin consolidated power in Russia by systematically crushing a lively free press. The Trump regime is trying the same tactics in the United States.
At a pub called Status, Natalie Korach reports that CNN CEO Mark Thompson met privately at the White House, then abruptly “urged the network to ease up on coverage of Trump’s East Room demolition.”1
More from Status’s Jon Passantino about the collaboration of major corporations on the destruction of the East Wing:2
“It’s being paid for by some of the largest corporations in America: Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google, T-Mobile and others. And for one company in particular, the decision to help fund Trump’s destruction of White House history has become a public embarrassment. On NBC News and MSNBC in recent days, anchors have taken pains to note — sometimes with audible discomfort — that their corporate parent, Comcast, is among the donors helping bankroll Trump’s ballroom. The move has left the network’s journalists in the awkward position of covering the story of their own company’s complicity. For Comcast and its chairman and chief executive, Brian Roberts, it marks a moment of corporate humiliation, being publicly shamed on his own air for deference to Trump, the same vengeful president who has repeatedly targeted Roberts by name.”
The Washington Post, owned by Amazon kingpin Jeff Bezos, delivered a glowingly subservient editorial in favor of the regime’s demolition derby. In an editorial named “In defense of the White House ballroom,” they wrote:3
“The next Democratic president will be happy to have this.” The board added, “Preservationists express horror that Trump did not submit his plans to their scrutiny, but the truth is that this project would not have gotten done, certainly not during his term, if the president had gone through the traditional review process. The blueprints would have faced death by a thousand papercuts.”
“The White House cannot simply be a museum to the past. Like America, it must evolve with the times to maintain its greatness. Strong leaders reject calcification. In that way, Trump’s undertaking is a shot across the bow at NIMBYs everywhere.”
If you gagged at the reference to the carcass of Trump and “Strong leaders” in the same sentence, join the crowd.
Things look bad enough when CNN’s CEO is seen crawling around the White House with his palm out and his tongue licking the shoes of Stephen Miller.
But it could get worse, and probably will.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which happens to own HBO, CNN and DC Studios, is said to be up for sale. The business street scuttlebutt is that all or parts of it, including CNN, could be up be pawned off to the highest-bidding oligarch.
Warner Bros. Discovery has only been around for three years. A few years ago, AT&T created something called WarnerMedia by merging it with another traditional cable content provider, Discovery Communications. $43 billion changed hands in that transaction.
Not even oligarchs have easy access to that kind of money.
But we know one who does: Oracle CEO and founder Larry Ellison’s son, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison. Larry Ellison is yet another tech oligarch firmly in the Trump camp. Skydance just finished its own mega purchase, snapping up Paramount (and CBS) for billions. Through that deal, Ellison controls 100% of the new company.
Ellison then quickly installed Bari Weiss as CBS News’ editor-in-chief by purchasing her “Free Press” pub for $100 million. Weiss is considered by many to be friendly to the right wing, although she’s more unpredictable than many in that sphere. $100 million can help push anyone into the clutches of right-wing predictability, though.
Now, Ellison wants to get his hands on Warner Discovery, too.
This would pretty much corner the news market for the right-wing troll machine, which already controls TwitterX, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Paramount (CBS), and Sinclair (the owner of hundreds of local TV channels), among other media entities.
As CNN itself reported:4
Ellison is exuding the kind of confidence that comes from having tens of billions in cash. His ambitions are bolstered by his father, Larry Ellison, Oracle’s executive chairman, who currently ranks as the second-richest man in the world. Together they are “building an unprecedented media empire,” as The Washington Post put it earlier this month.
Ellison has made three offers on Warner Bros. Discovery. All three offers have so far been turned down by its CEO, David Zaslav. But it’s probably only a matter of time before Zaslav caves.
It’s easy to say, “I don’t care. I don’t watch CNN.”
Neither do I. It’s not you I’m worried about.
CNN still has a huge viewership. That’s a concern for all of us.
There’s only one solution I can think of, aside from charging the White House fences.
We need to buy CNN
Who is “we?” It’s you and me, fronted by a benign, rich savior who is friendly to the anti-regime movement. Someone needs to swoop in and offer Warner Bros. Discovery a deal they can’t refuse for CNN, and that someone then needs to turn the operation over to a public trust.
Any takers?
Notes
What about MSNBC? I don’t know. I don’t watch them, either. They’ve broken free from NBC, but I don’t trust any of them.
We need a publicly owned news broadcasting service. CNN is ripe for the plucking. But turning it into a public trust is key. Can it be done? Probably not. Most of the billionaires who can afford it have their noses in Trump’s pockets. But never say never. Maybe getting the idea out there will trigger something.
Footnotes
Status. 2025. “Mark Thompson’s D.C. Drop-In.” Status. 2025. https://www.status.news/p/mark-thompson-cnn-white-house-east-wing-demolition.
Status. 2025. “Comcast’s Ballroom Dance.” Status. 2025. https://www.status.news/p/funding-trump-ball-room-white-house-comcast.
Board, Editorial. 2025. “In Defense of the White House Ballroom.” The Washington Post. October 25, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/25/ballroom-east-wing-trump-white-house.
Stelter, Brian. 2025. “David Ellison May Have a ‘Trump Card’ — Literally — in Warner Bros. Discovery Pursuit.” CNN. October 23, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/23/media/ellison-wbd-trump-warner-bros-discovery-bid.
Dem billionaires are stupid to not be buying up media. Just sitting back and letting all the evil whackos buy it all is going to cement fascism in the US.