Days before declaring he was «not involved» in Paramount’s Netflix dispute, Trump met with David Ellison

In the midst of Paramount’s ongoing hostile takeover effort for CNN and the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount CEO David Ellison came to the White House this week for a secret meeting with President Donald Trump.

According to two people familiar with the sessions, Ellison and Trump had two extensive discussions.

The meetings took place early last week, which is noteworthy because Trump responded, «I haven’t been involved,» when NBC’s Tom Llamas questioned him on Wednesday regarding the conflict between Paramount and Netflix.

For Trump, who had earlier shown his preference for Paramount and stated he would be engaged, there was a significant change.

WBD’s agreement to sell the Warner Bros. studio and HBO to Netflix is presently being examined by Trump administration officials. By going straight to shareholders with its own bid for all of WBD, Paramount is attempting to thwart that acquisition.

Ellison and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who has also been with Trump in recent months, have been giving him a lot of attention, and Trump seemed to be amazed by this. He remarked, «I guess I’m regarded as a very strong president.» «Both sides have called me. Both sides are involved, but I’ve made the decision not to get involved. It will be handled by the Justice Department.