BREAKING: Trump DOJ Approves Paramount’s Acquisition of Warner Bros.

(Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP)

Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has approved Paramount-Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN and HBO Max.

Politico reported that the merger is expected to be announced Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter.

“After an extensive review, DOJ officials determined the transaction did not pose a threat to competition and declined to challenge it, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The department approved the merger without requiring any divestitures, behavioral remedies or concessions, according to one of the people,” Politico reported.

Paramount CEO and owner, David Ellison, reportedly met in person with DOJ Antitrust Division officials in the weeks leading up to the potential deal. David Ellison is the son of pro-Trump tech titan Larry Ellison.

California’s Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) has been investigating the deal and “could still sue to block the deal despite federal regulators signing off,” according to the report.

The merger could mean that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss would also oversee CNN’s editorial division, according to reporting from Axios. Paramount is reportedly looking for a “business-side counterpart” that would free up Weiss to solely handle editorial duties at both networks.

Weiss, who worked as an opinions editor for The New York Times and founded the digital media company The Free Press, has no television news experience. She has been roundly criticized on the left for “gutting” 60 Minutes, CBS News’s legendary news magazine, and naming tech journalist Nick Bilton as executive producer.

Despite reports of harsh feelings among current and former CBS News journalists, “The Paramount brass loves Bari Weiss,” a source told Axios. “She has the full confidence of David Ellison, who believes Bari has done a fantastic job as editor-in-chief.”

CNN editorial staff has expressed their own fears over what a Paramount takeover would mean for their newsroom. Last spring, some CNN journalists described the mood inside the company as “shaken” and ”depressing” to NBC News.

This is a breaking story and has been updated.

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