Elizabeth Warren Warns Trump-Era Mergers Could Be Reversed Amid Media Consolidation Fears
The Lead
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren has warned that corporate mergers approved by the Trump administration – including a pending deal that would put two of America's largest news outlets under the control of a family sympathetic to the president – could be undone by a future administration.
The Media Merger Concerns
Warren's comments specifically address the $111bn merger of Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company of CNN and HBO, and Paramount Skydance, which includes CBS News and is controlled by the Ellison family. The deal has prompted concerns that Larry Ellison, a longtime associate of Donald Trump, and his son, David, could reorient CNN's coverage to be favorable to the president.
After gaining control of CBS News in the merger last year that created Paramount Skydance, David Ellison appointed as editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, a conservative commentator who had no experience in television. The news network has since been plagued by allegations of political bias, including at 60 Minutes, the most watched show in television news.
The Political Implications
"There's one ultimate decision-maker who decides what's important and what's not" at two of the country's biggest news outlets, Warren warned. She expressed concern that "where Americans turn for news, they can depend less and less on hearing independent, unbiased reports, and increasingly hearing a predigested version of the world that is comfortable for the new management of these news outfits."
Warren is not alone among Senate Democrats in threatening to undo mergers approved under the Republican administration. In February, Senator Chris Murphy warned that Paramount "should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it because when Democrats win back power we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates. All of them."
Other Major Mergers
- Nippon Steel's $14.9bn acquisition of US Steel
- Omnicom's $13.5bn acquisition of Interpublic to create the world's largest advertising agency
- A $35bn deal between Capital One and Discover Financial
The Accusations of Pay-to-Play
In a speech to the Open Market Institute in Washington, the senator accused the Trump administration of turning a blind eye to the merger wave's harmful effects on consumers in exchange for political donations.
"As soon as Trump took office, corporations came knocking at the White House door to get their pro-monopoly deals approved," Warren said. "Have you wondered why companies keep donating millions of dollars to Trump's gold-encrusted ballroom, his arch, or his library? It looks a lot like a pay-to-play scheme."
The Political Outlook
Warren noted that while Democrats might regain control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, their ability to change laws would be limited as long as Trump remains in the White House with veto power. However, she highlighted that antitrust law permits retroactive breakups of mergers "if they are later determined to violate those laws."
"After 2028, we'll have new players in Washington, and everyone who's engaged in this merger frenzy right now is aware of that," Warren said. "The deals that are being cut today are occurring in the shadow of a coming political tsunami of anger against these giant corporations that think they can mow through one industry after another and run up prices and suck out profits and never be held accountable."
"By 2028" – the year of the next presidential election – "they may find out they have badly miscalculated," Warren concluded.