{"id":5242,"date":"2026-08-24T12:05:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242"},"modified":"2026-08-24T12:05:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:05:59","slug":"a-111b-deal-could-silence-all-of-trumps-critics-including-jon-stewart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242","title":{"rendered":"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump’s critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Trump buddy Larry Ellison (one of the richest people in the U.S.) and his son David are a hair\u2019s breadth away from being able to decide what many Americans learn about what Trump is doing to America. <\/p>\n

Read more Red state farmers left reeling after Trump \u2018demolished\u2019 key agency<\/a><\/p>\n

The only thing stopping them is California attorney general Rob Bonta\u2019s lawsuit, joined by the attorneys general of 11 other states and the Writer\u2019s Guild of America. Bonta\u2019s coalition is attempting to derail the Ellisons\u2019 proposed $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging it violates a century-old antitrust law. <\/p>\n

Lawyers for Paramount and the state of California are meeting today to discuss a possible path for settling the suit. But it\u2019s far from clear they\u2019ll come to an agreement, or, even if they did, that it would protect the public\u2019s right to know. <\/p>\n

Bonta and California are appropriately concerned about what the Ellisons\u2019 plan might do to jobs in Hollywood\u2019s TV and film industry. But the stakes are much larger for America as a whole. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s game plan is for the Ellisons to control a giant media monopoly \u2014 including CBS News, CNN, Comedy Central (home to Jon Stewart), HBO (John Oliver), and even TikTok (where 1 out of 5 Americans now get their news) \u2014 to silence criticism of Trump. <\/p>\n

The Ellisons have already gobbled up CBS and CBS News. If they get Warner Bros. Discovery, they\u2019ll also own CNN, Comedy Central, and HBO. Larry Ellison\u2019s company, Oracle, leads an investor group that holds a majority 80.1 percent stake in TikTok\u2019s U.S. operations. <\/p>\n

In normal times, in a normal administration, under a normal president, this concentration of media ownership would be merely troubling. But these aren\u2019t normal times, and this media monopoly would be catastrophic to the public\u2019s right to know about Trump and his authoritarian moves. <\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly revealed his thirst to silence critics, and the Ellisons have revealed their eagerness to help him. <\/p>\n

When the Ellisons gained ownership of CBS, they dutifully got rid of Stephen Colbert by not letting CBS renew his contract, and they ripped the guts out of CBS News and its flagship \u201c60 Minutes\u201d \u2014 firing Scott Pelley and other senior producers who refused to walk the Trump walk. <\/p>\n

One departing producer there explained in a farewell memo to colleagues that she could no longer work where stories are \u201cevaluated not just on their journalistic merit, but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations \u2014 a dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines.\u201dAnyone who believes that the Ellisons will treat CNN (or Comedy Central or HBO) any better than they\u2019ve treated CBS News hasn\u2019t been paying attention.<\/p>\n

CNN has long been a target of Trump. The White House has called the network\u2019s reporting biased and inaccurate on its new \u201cMedia Offenders\u201d webpage.<\/p>\n

Last December, when a CNN reporter asked Trump a question he didn\u2019t like, he shot back: \u201cYou know you work for the Democrats, don\u2019t you? You\u2019re basically an arm of the Democrat Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ellisons \u2014 per et fils<\/em> \u2014 have promised Trump that if he lets them take over Warner Bros. Discovery, they\u2019ll defang CNN.<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal<\/em> reported that David Ellison promised Trump he\u2019d make \u201csweeping changes\u201d to CNN if he were to acquire its parent company.<\/p>\n

Read more Ex-Trump secretary spills the reason behind Melania\u2019s constant absences<\/a><\/p>\n

Several insiders told The Guardian<\/em> that a White House official discussed with Larry Ellison potential programming changes at CNN, including firing reporters such as Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, whom Trump is said to loathe.<\/p>\n

Months ago, Trump said it was \u201cimperative\u201d that CNN be sold as part of a possible Warner Bros. Discovery deal. \u201cCNN should be sold because the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent,\u201d he told reporters at an event at the White House.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think any deal, it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately,\u201d Trump continued, \u201cbut I don\u2019t think the people that are running that company right now and running CNN \u2014 which is a very dishonest group of people \u2014 I don\u2019t think that should be allowed to continue. I think CNN should be sold along with everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a press briefing in March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth complained about a CNN report that the Trump administration had underestimated Iran\u2019s ability to disrupt global oil traffic by closing the Strait of Hormuz. \u201cPatently ridiculous,\u201d Hegseth told reporters, adding that \u201cthe sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.\u201d <\/p>\n

Does anyone need more evidence that Trump has been pushing Ellison\u2019s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN\u2019s parent, in order to silence criticism? <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s game plan all along has been to neuter CBS News, CNN, and other news sources that have reported critically on him. <\/p>\n

As I noted at the start of this post, Paramount\u2019s lawyers are today meeting with Bonta and his team.<\/p>\n

David Ellison is threatening to begin moving Paramount\u2019s operations out of California starting in October if Bonta refuses to settle his antitrust lawsuit that\u2019s now blocking Paramount\u2019s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. State officials and labor groups like the Writer\u2019s Guild have called the move a pressure tactic or blackmail, which of course it is.<\/p>\n

The problem is, there\u2019s no necessary connection between an agreement that may satisfy Bonta and the state of California and one that would be in the interest of the American public. <\/p>\n

Presumably, California is concerned about the impact of the proposed merger on jobs, especially in Hollywood, rather than its impact on the public\u2019s right to know what the Trump administration is up to. That\u2019s understandable. <\/p>\n

Yet a Trumpian media monopoly that preserved Hollywood jobs but gave Trump more power to silence criticism would be a dangerous loss for America. <\/p>\n

Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https:\/\/robertreich.substack.com\/.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Conservatives torch Trump delusion that his power will \u2018go on forever\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A multi-state antitrust lawsuit is the final line of defense against a massive right-wing takeover of American media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA $111B deal could silence all of Trump's critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump's critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A multi-state antitrust lawsuit is the final line of defense against a massive right-wing takeover of American media.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-24T12:05:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump’s critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-24T12:05:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242\"},\"wordCount\":1065,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/716edce1d1b7ff20dd9d2802e0432184.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242\",\"name\":\"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump's critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart - Next Address America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/716edce1d1b7ff20dd9d2802e0432184.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-24T12:05:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/716edce1d1b7ff20dd9d2802e0432184.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/716edce1d1b7ff20dd9d2802e0432184.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5242#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump’s critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next Address America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump's critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart - Next Address America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump's critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart - Next Address America","og_description":"A multi-state antitrust lawsuit is the final line of defense against a massive right-wing takeover of American media.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242","og_site_name":"Next Address America","article_published_time":"2026-08-24T12:05:59+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"headline":"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump’s critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart","datePublished":"2026-08-24T12:05:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242"},"wordCount":1065,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/716edce1d1b7ff20dd9d2802e0432184.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242","name":"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump's critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart - Next Address America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/716edce1d1b7ff20dd9d2802e0432184.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-24T12:05:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/716edce1d1b7ff20dd9d2802e0432184.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/716edce1d1b7ff20dd9d2802e0432184.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5242#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A $111B deal could silence all of Trump’s critics \u2014 including Jon Stewart"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/","name":"Next Address America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}