Senator Elizabeth Warren Warns of Potential Reversal of Trump-Era Mergers
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has cautioned that corporate mergers approved during the Trump administration—including a pending deal that would place two of America’s largest news outlets under the control of a family aligned with the president—might be undone by a future administration.
“After 2028, we’ll have new players in Washington, and everyone who’s engaged in this merger frenzy right now is aware of that,”Warren stated in an interview.
“The deals that are being cut today are occurring in the shadow of a coming political tsunami of anger against these giant corporations that think they can mow through one industry after another and run up prices and suck out profits and never be held accountable.”
“By 2028”—the year of the next presidential election—
“they may find out they have badly miscalculated,”Warren added.
Concerns Over Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Skydance Merger
The Massachusetts senator’s remarks follow the Justice Department’s recent approval of the $111 billion merger between Warner Bros Discovery, parent company of CNN and HBO, and Paramount Skydance, which includes CBS News and is controlled by the Ellison family.
This merger has raised concerns that Larry Ellison, a longtime associate of Donald Trump, and his son David Ellison could influence CNN’s coverage to favor the president. After acquiring CBS News through the merger that formed Paramount Skydance, David Ellison appointed Bari Weiss, a conservative commentator with no television experience, as editor-in-chief.
Since then, the network has faced accusations of political bias, including at the most watched show in television news. At CNN, the prospect of the Ellisons gaining control and potentially installing Weiss in a leadership role has generated apprehension.
Warren warned that if the networks are consolidated under the Ellisons, it would result in
“one ultimate decision-maker who decides what’s important and what’s not”at two of the nation’s largest news outlets.
“A bigger problem is that Ellison himself wants to inject a tilt into the news, and that means, where Americans turn for news, they can depend less and less on hearing independent, unbiased reports, and increasingly hearing a predigested version of the world that is comfortable for the new management of these news outfits,”she said.
Legal Challenges and Broader Merger Approvals Under Trump
State attorneys general have reportedly planned a lawsuit against the merger but have not yet announced it. Warren remarked that she
“wouldn’t draw a lot of inferences”from the delay, explaining that such cases require significant resources and coordination among states to effectively challenge a figure like Ellison.
Beyond the media sector, the Trump administration has also approved several major mergers, including Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion acquisition of US Steel; Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic to create the world’s largest advertising agency; and a $35 billion deal between Capital One and Discover Financial.
Warren Criticizes Trump Administration’s Approach to Mergers
In a speech at the Open Market Institute in Washington, Senator Warren accused the Trump administration of ignoring the negative effects of the merger wave on consumers in exchange for political donations.
“As soon as Trump took office, corporations came knocking at the White House door to get their pro-monopoly deals approved,”Warren said.
“Have you wondered why companies keep donating millions of dollars to Trump’s gold-encrusted ballroom, his arch, or his library? It looks a lot like a pay-to-play scheme.”
Other Senate Democrats Also Threaten to Undo Mergers
Warren is not alone among Senate Democrats in threatening to reverse mergers approved under the Republican administration. In February, Senator Chris Murphy posted on social media that Paramount, then the prime bidder for Warner Bros Discovery after Netflix withdrew,
“should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it because when Democrats win back power we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates. All of them.”
Midterm Elections and Potential Legislative Impact
In November, voters will participate in midterm elections that could return Democrats to control of the Senate and House of Representatives. Warren, representing Massachusetts and serving as the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee, indicated that regaining the majority could provide limited opportunities to counter the Trump administration’s merger policies.
“What we’ll be able to change in the law will be tough, with Donald Trump still sitting in the White House and able to veto anything he doesn’t like,”Warren said. She also noted that antitrust law allows for retroactive breakups of mergers
“if they are later determined to violate those laws.”
