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David Ellison Skydance Trump ties do not politicize the company
David Ellison Skydance Trump ties have not politicized the media conglomerate, its chief executive insisted on Tuesday, defending the close connection he has forged with Donald Trump's White House over 20 months of the administration. He made the remarks at a press briefing on the completed merger of Paramount Skydance and CNN parent company Warner Bros Discovery.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 7, 2026
• 3 Min Read
'A good relationship' across the aisle
David Ellison Skydance Trump ties were the focus of his defense at the briefing on the newly completed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery, the parent of CNN. "We have a good relationship with this administration," he told reporters.
He listed other relationships:
- •President Biden, with whom he said he had "a really good relationship"
- •Republican South Carolina senator Tim Scott
- •California Governor Gavin Newsom
Reaching out on both sides of the aisle matters, he argued, because a business operating within a business-friendly administration should keep those relationships - and Skydance, he added, wants to talk to everyone.
Ellison's bottom line:
"We do not want to politicize the company."
No talks with politicians about news
Pressed on his conversations with Trump about CNN, Ellison gave no direct account of what he and the president - the network's most prominent critic - had said to each other. What he would confirm is that Skydance has held no discussions about news with any political leader of any party.
He said: "we want to be in the truth business and we want to be in the trust business. And we believe in complete editorial independence."
Independence pledged for CNN and CBS News
The pledges landed amid concerns that CNN might be steered in a more rightward editorial direction under Ellison. His response: CNN and CBS News alike would be "completely editorially independent" - the same assurance he had given company employees at a town hall earlier in the day.
He also threw his weight behind the two executives he has chosen to keep running the news networks he now controls: CNN chief executive Mark Thompson and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. "We're thrilled, obviously, with Mark," he said. "We're thrilled with Bari."
- •Thompson said in a Monday memo to staffers that he will stay on at the merged company
- •Skydance has confirmed that Weiss will remain in her CBS News role
Synergies under review, savings questioned
Asked whether CBS News and CNN might end up combined - and what cuts, or "synergies", that could involve - Ellison said he and his leadership team will take the next several months to review the question. Of the $6bn in savings the merger is expected to deliver, he added, most would come from somewhere other than job losses.
Weiss's performance as CBS News editorial leader never came up at the briefing. The last time a reporter posed it, in June, Ellison left the question unanswered.
