The Pod Save America hosts believe Donald Trump’s “coyness” about who should be able to buy Warner Bros.—his billionaire buddy, Paramount and Skydance owner, David Ellison, or streaming giant Netflix—is a way for him to throw himself an 18-month-long birthday party.
Jon Lovett explained his take on the latest episode of their podcast on Tuesday, after Trump slammed CBS for airing Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Trump-critical 60 Minutes interview.
“Going after Paramount today is a way of saying, for the next 18 months, ‘Everybody better be so nice to me,’” Lovett said. “‘It’s my birthday. It’s my birthday until one of these deals is approved.’”
Added co-host Jon Favreau on Trump’s social media meltdown, “Trump is also a messy b---h who loves drama.”
In his Truth Social rant, Trump blasted Greene, branding her a “traitor,” as well as 60 Minutes veteran Leslie Stahl, “washed up.” He also had choice words for Paramount, which settled with Trump for $16 million in July over his claims that 60 Minutes selectively edited his campaign opponent’s interview before the election.
“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 wrote. “Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!”
Trump’s comments about who he favors to get the Warner Bros. deal have been vague, Favreau argued. “I do think he is playing coy,” the host said, by criticizing Paramount as Ellison tries to usurp Netflix’s winning bid. The streamer won its play for the entertainment companies’ studio and streaming assets on Friday. Paramount then made a hostile takeover bid on Monday as a last-ditch effort, as Ellison seeks to buy the company in its entirety.
“‘Maybe it’s too much market share for Netflix, but also Ted Sarandos is fantastic,’” Favreau added, summarizing Trump’s comments on the competition. “It’s leverage. And if this takes, what, 18 months to close, that’s a good part of the rest of Trump’s term. And he can have all these companies, all three of these companies, just kissing his a--,” he said.
After all, Ellison has already curried favor with the president by greenlighting one of his favorite movie franchises. They’ll be “giving him all the content, all the Rush Hour movies he wants,” Favreau added.
When it comes to which company should win, Lovett said that ideally, neither company takes whole or part ownership of Warner Bros: “I guess the hope would be that this gets dragged out, the Netflix deal gets killed, and somehow in the interim, the Paramount deal falls apart too.”
“I think people are being a little too cavalier about saying the Netflix deal should be stopped without accepting that the downwind consequence of that is the Paramount one happens,” he added. “And there’s a ton of bad outcomes for that too.”
If he can add Warner Bros. under his Paramount-Skydance umbrella, Ellison could ultimately combine CNN and CBS under MAGA-curious Free Press founder Bari Weiss.
