President Donald Trump said CNN’s current leaders are corrupt or incompetent and should not continue running the network|Altair78|CC BY-SA 2.0

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said CNN should be sold as Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) prepares for a huge $72 billion merger with Netflix and faces a hostile takeover bid from Paramount.

Trump said CNN’s current leaders are corrupt or incompetent and should not continue running the network. He added that any merger agreement should require CNN to be sold or separated.

The WBD deal with Netflix does not include its cable channels, such as CNN, TNT, and others. Warner also plans to split into two public companies next year.

Trump’s remarks followed reports that Paramount CEO David Ellison met with him and told him he would make big changes to CNN.

Paramount’s newest bid for WBD is backed partly by investors from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, along with Jared Kushner’s investment firm. Jared is the son-in-law of President Trump.