Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of the software giant Oracle and one of the richest people in the United States, and his son David are close to gaining the power to shape what many Americans learn about what Trump is doing to the country.

The main obstacle is a lawsuit from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by the attorneys general of 11 other states and the Writers Guild of America. Bonta’s coalition is trying to stop the Ellisons’ proposed $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, which would rank among the largest media takeovers on record, arguing that it violates a century-old antitrust law.

Lawyers for Paramount and the state of California are meeting today to discuss a possible path toward settling the case. But it is unclear whether they will reach any agreement, or whether any deal would protect the public’s right to know.

Bonta and California are rightly focused on the possible effect of the Ellisons’ plan on jobs in Hollywood’s television and film industry. But the stakes are far larger for the United States as a whole.

Trump’s strategy, according to critics, is for the Ellisons to control a vast media empire that includes CBS News, CNN, Comedy Central, HBO and even TikTok, where 1 in 5 Americans now get their news, in order to suppress criticism of Trump.

The Ellisons have already taken control of Paramount — and with it CBS and CBS News — after David Ellison’s Skydance Media studio merged with the company in 2025. If they acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which was itself formed by the 2022 merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, they would also control CNN, Comedy Central and HBO. Larry Ellison’s company, Oracle, leads an investor group that holds an 80.1% majority stake in TikTok’s U.S. operations under a U.S. law that required the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest it.

In ordinary times, and under an ordinary presidency, such concentration of media ownership would be troubling. But these are not ordinary times. Critics say such a media monopoly would be disastrous for the public’s ability to learn about Trump and his authoritarian actions.

Trump has repeatedly shown a desire to silence his critics, and the Ellisons have shown a willingness to assist him.

After the Ellisons gained ownership of CBS, they declined to renew Stephen Colbert’s contract. They also sharply reduced CBS News and its flagship program, “60 Minutes,” including by firing Scott Pelley and other senior producers who would not follow Trump’s lead.

One departing producer wrote in a farewell memo that she could no longer work in an environment where stories are “evaluated not just on their journalistic merit, but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations — a dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines.”

Anyone who thinks the Ellisons will treat CNN, Comedy Central or HBO any better than CBS News has not been paying attention.

CNN has long been a target of Trump. The White House has described the network’s reporting as biased and inaccurate on its new “Media Offenders” webpage. Last December, after a CNN reporter asked Trump a question he did not like, he replied: “You know you work for the Democrats, don’t you? You’re basically an arm of the Democrat Party.”

The Ellisons, father and son, have reportedly promised Trump that if he allows them to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, they will weaken CNN.

The Wall Street Journal reported that David Ellison promised Trump he would make “sweeping changes” to CNN if he acquires its parent company. Several insiders told The Guardian that a White House official discussed possible programming changes at CNN with Larry Ellison, including firing reporters such as Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, whom Trump reportedly dislikes.

Months ago, Trump said it was “imperative” that CNN be sold as part of any possible Warner Bros. Discovery deal. “CNN should be sold because the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent,” he told reporters at an event at the White House.

“I think any deal, it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately,” Trump continued. “But I don’t think the people that are running that company right now and running CNN — which is a very dishonest group of people — I don’t think that should be allowed to continue. I think CNN should be sold along with everything else.”

At a press briefing in March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized a CNN report saying the Trump administration had underestimated Iran’s ability to disrupt global oil traffic by closing the Strait of Hormuz. “Patently ridiculous,” Hegseth told reporters, adding that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

Critics say these comments are further evidence that Trump has been pushing Ellison’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, in order to silence criticism.

According to this view, Trump’s broader goal has been to neutralize CBS News, CNN and other outlets that have reported critically on him.

As noted earlier, Paramount’s lawyers are meeting today with Bonta and his team. David Ellison has threatened to begin moving Paramount’s operations out of California in October if Bonta refuses to settle the antitrust lawsuit that is now blocking Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. State officials and labor groups such as the Writers Guild have called that a pressure tactic, or blackmail.

There is, however, no necessary link between an agreement that may satisfy Bonta and the state of California and one that would serve the interests of the American public.

California is presumably focused on the impact of the proposed merger on jobs, especially in Hollywood, rather than on the public’s right to know what the Trump administration is doing. That concern is understandable.

But a Trump-aligned media monopoly that protected Hollywood jobs while giving Trump more power to suppress criticism would still be a dangerous loss for the country.

Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at .