A Donald Trump ally has a suggestion for Warner Bros. Discovery: Why don't you pay us or give us a TV show?

• Donald Trump is suing immoderate media companies. But he's besides unfastened to deals with them.

• That's the proposition a Trump state precocious made to Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns a clump of cablegram channels including CNN.

• There's nary grounds that WBD has moved guardant with that suggestion. But the information that it has travel up astatine each tells you a batch astir the authorities of things successful 2025.

Donald Trump has a agelong past of attacking media companies. But the antheral who spent years arsenic a primetime TV prima earlier helium became president is besides precise funny successful media companies, and the powerfulness and power they whitethorn inactive have.

Which brings america to this New York mag illustration of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, written by Trump biographer Michael Wolff. It says idiosyncratic "in the Trump orbit" has made immoderate suggestions for ways WBD could marque Trump happy: Offer money, programming oregon both.

WBD confirmed that a institution typical precocious reached retired to the Trump orbit seeking proposal astir however the institution mightiness advantageously interact with the White House and amended its Trump-age odor. The reported connection was to look astatine the illustration of Amazon and Jeff Bezos paying Melania Trump $40 cardinal to enactment successful a documentary astir herself. Don Jr. mightiness similar a hunting and sportfishing amusement connected the Discovery Channel, they were told. And that CNN could person much pro-Trump voices — proposition provided.

This is 1 of those stories that would person been unimaginable successful different presidencies, but surely rhymes with what we've seen from Trump and moguls who privation to beryllium connected his bully broadside (see: the Amazon/Melania Trump woody referenced successful the excerpt; on with payouts to Trump successful suit settlements from the likes of Disney and Meta). And indeed, a idiosyncratic acquainted with the details of that anecdote says it's correct. (WBD declined to comment, and I've asked the White House arsenic good — though White House comms caput Steven Cheung has antecedently described Wolff arsenic "a lying sack of crap [who] has been proven to beryllium a fraud.")

There's nary grounds that WBD has acted connected immoderate of those suggestions. But it's surely worthy noting that past summer, Zaslav said helium was rooting for a president that would let the media concern to consolidate — thing Joe Biden had opposed. And that the time aft Trump's predetermination past fall, Zaslav said helium was hopeful the caller medication "would supply a existent affirmative and accelerated interaction connected this manufacture that's needed."

On the flip side, Trump is simply a predominant professional of WBD-owned CNN, and has sued the quality enactment — unsuccessfully — aggregate times. And during his archetypal administration, Trump's antitrust officials sued to halt AT&T from buying Time Warner, WBD's predecessor company. Media executives successful and extracurricular of Time Warner judge that suit, which didn't win but took years to litigate, stemmed from Trump's distaste for CNN; Trump antitrust officials importune that wasn't the case.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to marque it wide that helium some consumes accepted media and gets aggravated erstwhile it doesn't flatter him.

On Sunday night, pursuing an occurrence of CBS's "60 Minutes," Trump posted a rant connected his Truth Social complaining astir CBS, and commanded Federal Communications Commission seat Brendan Carr to "impose the maximum fines and punishment, which is substantial, for their unlawful and amerciable behavior." Carr is presently reviewing a pending merchantability of CBS proprietor Paramount, and Trump is already suing Paramount implicit a antithetic "60 Minutes" occurrence helium doesn't like.

Read the archetypal nonfiction connected Business Insider