Trump Davos Leaked Texts Situation is Worse Than You Think & Don Lemon's Church Protest Scandal
PDS Published 01/20/2026
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Two years ago, the Canadian government was preparing for the United States to devolve into civil war. [Headline]
Now, they’re preparing for a war war, not inside the U.S., but between the U.S. and Canada itself. [Image, headline]
That’s according to The Globe and Mail, which reports that for the first time in a century, the Canadian Armed Forces have modelled a hypothetical U.S. military invasion of Canada and the country’s potential response. [Quote same link, first line]
With that including tactics similar to those employed against Russia and later U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. [Same quote]
Now the outlet’s sources and other experts say an actual war is unlikely, and this is just a theoretical model, not an actionable war plan.
But they also raise questions about what this signals for the stability of the international order.
Because there’s a lot more to talk about, from Trump’s ranting on Truth Social to the insane backlash at this week’s summit of global elites at Davos.
But let’s start with this: Donald Trump has continued his apparent descent into madness since we talked about it yesterday. [B roll, 00:35]
With the big news then being his threat to tariff Europe unless he gets Greenland, as well as him texting Norway’s prime minister that he “no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace” after they didn’t give him the Nobel Peace Prize. [Post and B roll]
To which Norway’s PM was like, okay, but we don’t make that decision; there’s an independent committee that awards the prize. [[B roll]
But in a phone call with NBC News, Trump insisted, “Norway totally controls it despite what they say.” [Quote]
Continuing, “They like to say they have nothing to do with it, but they have everything thing to do with it.” [Quote same link]
Then, when they asked him whether he’d use force to seize Greenland, he said, “No comment.” [Quote same link]
Though later on Truth Social, he posted an AI-generated photo of himself planting the American flag in Greenland’s soil. [Image]
As well as another of himself in the Oval Office lecturing European leaders while pointing to a map of Greenland, Canada and Venezuela covered in the American flag. [Image]
Next, he blasted what he called an “act of total weakness,” an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY,” and “another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”
And what was it, you ask? Did Greenland cut down the number of dog sleds defending it against China from two to one?
No, it turns out Trump is really upset about Britain's plan to hand sovereignty over the Chagos Islands [Pronounce], where a joint British-U.S. military base is located, to Mauritius [Pronounce]. [Post, first line]
Now why, even if we grant Trump’s premise, the loss of control over one base in the Indian Ocean would require him to acquire control over another in the Arctic is unclear.
But of course, neither the U.S. nor Britain are giving up control over the base, and when this plan was finalized last May, Trump’s own White House said it “secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint U.S.-U.K. military facility” there. [Quote]
Yet seemingly on a dime, Trump’s now reversed from that, sarcastically calling the U.K. “brilliant” in scare quotes and claiming they’re doing this “FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.” [Post]
Though of course, that’s wrong too; right, British leaders say they’re giving the island to Mauritius to avoid legal issues after the United Nations and International Court of Justice urged it to do so. [Quote, find “United Nations”]
But Trump’s never been one to respect the UN or international courts, so in his post he said:
China and Russia “only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before.” [Post]
Though if that’s true, then it’s strange that his proposal to create a “Board of Peace” has been met with such a lukewarm response.
But last night, when asked about reports that Emmanuel Macron doesn’t want to join his new pet project, Trump said:
[Clip, 00:05 - 00:18]
Then, just a few hours later, he got on Truth Social and posted screenshots of an apparently private text message from the French president, with Macron’s text reading:
“My friend, we are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.” [Image]
And Trump kept going, also posting screenshots of a message from the secretary general of NATO that reads:
“Mr. President dear Donald - what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible. I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine. I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Cant wait to see you.” [Image]
So yeah, I guess now world leaders have to expect that Trump might just leak their DMs on his own personal social media platform.
But if they’ve been relatively cordial with him in private, they’re becoming increasingly frank about what’s happening in public.
With European leaders speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, and although Trump hasn’t arrived yet, he’s clearly the elephant in the room.
[Clip, 06:34 - 06:37]
That’s Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who says the rules-based international order, set up after World War Two and maintained by American hegemonny ever since, is now falling apart. [Continue B roll]
[Same clip, 06:48 - 07:00, 07:47 - 08:00]
With him saying he strongly opposes Trump’s tariffs over Greenland, and adding that like-minded democracies need to band together so they don’t have to choose the lesser evil between world hegemons.
And he’s not alone; you also have Macron kicking off his speech by seemingly mocking Trump. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 01:09 - 01:17, include laughing]
Then, even when he got serious, he still couldn’t help throwing in another jab at Donald.
[Clip, 01:42 - 01:50]
With him saying that Europe needs to protect its own industries against unfair trade practices from the U.S. and China, including by considering the so-called “trade bazooka” against American tech companies.
And as for China in particular, although he laments the trade deficit there, he wants more investment from it in Europe.
[Clip, 11:30 - 11:55]
And I’ll note this one last moment where he seems to call out Trump again.
[Clip, 00:46 - 01:00]
But while they’re sounding off over there in the Swiss Alps, we’re hearing more anti-American sentiment from the Vatican.
With Pope Leo giving his “State of the World” speech this month at the Holy See, and referring to Trump in all but name. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 12:30 - 12:36, 12:46 - 12:52, 13:01 - 13:10] Caption: “War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. … Peace is no longer sought as a gift and a desirable good in itself. … Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion.”
So now, the three highest-ranking Catholic archbishops in the United States have released a joint statement measuring Trump’s foreign policy against the standard set by Pope Leo. [Image, Image, Image]
With them pointing to events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland, and saying:
“In 2026, the United States has entered into the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War. [Quote]
Adding that war shouldn’t be used for the aggrandizement of a particular country’s wealth, and humanitarian assistance is the obligation of every nation. [Quote, find “wealth” and “obligation”]
Whereas Trump, by contrast, has gutted USAID, a move that, according to one estimate, could result in millions more deaths globally. [Quote, find “1.6”]
As well as openly embraced a policy of war for treasure, aiming to conquer Venezuela’s oil, bidding for Greenland’s minerals, and trying to extort resources from Ukraine. [B roll]
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But Christian Americans aren’t just resisting Trump’s foreign policy, they’re also divided over his actions on immigration – and the question of whether a church is an appropriate, or legal, venue for protesting.
Right, because on Sunday, roughly two dozen protesters interrupted a church service in St. Paul.
And they went to this church because they found out that one of the pastors is also acting director of the city’s ICE field office for enforcement and removal operations (BROLL: 0:58, 1:53, 2:16)
With him being named in a lawsuit accusing ICE the agency and its employees of having, quote: []
“....acted to suppress this dissent by abducting United States citizens and holding them incommunicado for hours like the masked secret police of pre-World War II Germany or Pinochet’s Chile.”
And of having “....pepper sprayed, violently subdued, and aimed assault rifles at protesters and observers, and even followed observers home to scare them in a tactic lifted straight from the mafia.” []
Now, with all that, it’s not clear whether Easterwood was present during the protest on Sunday.
But you had journalist Don Lemon there covering the protest, speaking to people on both sides – including the pastor who was apparently leading the service at the time of the protest and said:
“This is unacceptable. It’s shameful. It’s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship.” (51:45-51:53)
You’ve also now had Trump claiming the protesters were “professionals” who have been “highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics, in a certain manner, just like they are doing” – adding:
“They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country.”
And, most notably, you’ve had AG Pam Bondi claiming that “attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.”
With Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, confirming that her division was investigating – accusing protesters of “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”
And with that, you’ve had her and other officials pointing to a 1994 law known as the FACE Act – or the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances & Places of Religious Worship.
Which was passed largely in response to a sharp rise violence and other tactics meant to intimidate abortion providers and patients and physically block access.
Making it a federal crime to use “force, threat of force, or physical obstruction” to interfere with someone obtaining or providing reproductive health care.
But the law also applied to places of worship – and so now it could possibly be relevant to this case.
Though, notably, the law clearly says it should not be construed “...to prohibit any expressive conduct (including peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstration) protected from legal prohibition by the First Amendment to the Constitution…”
With a professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University explaining:
“If they are merely expressing their views, without obstructing access to the church, the First Amendment would protect them, just as it protects those who protest outside abortion clinics without obstructing access or intimidating patients.”
“But if they engaged in physical obstruction, the First Amendment does not protect that.”
Now, with that, notably, if the FACE act doesn’t work out, Dhillon also mentioned the possibility of invoking the Enforcement Act of 1871.
Which is also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act and was meant to protect Black Americans from White supremacist violence.
Although, again, it’s far from clear whether that legal argument would hold up in court.
Although you’ve had the Dillion presenting it as an open-and-shut case even while her “investigation” is ongoing.
And even suggesting Lemon might be prosecuted as well despite being there to cover the event as a journalist – saying in an interview with far-right influencer Benny Johnson:
"Don Lemon himself has come out and said he knew exactly what was going to happen inside that facility He went into the facility, and then he began — quote, unquote — 'committing journalism,' as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t." (6:58-7:18)
"Come next Sunday, nobody should think in the United States that they're going to be able to get away with this. Everyone in the protest community needs to know that the fullest force of the federal government is going to come down and prevent this from happening and put people away for a long, long time." (7:26-7:40)
But with all that, notably, Lemon claimed clear several times in his livestream that he didn’t see himself as a participant:
“We’re not part of the activists, but we’re here just reporting on them.” (46:00-46:04)
“I’m not gonna get in the middle of it, because I’m not here as an activist, I’m here as a journalist.” (47:20-47:26)
“I’m not here to intimidate anybody, I’m just here to chronicle, and get some answers, and let people know.” (53:30-55:38)
And now you’ve had him saying in an email to NBC News that "it’s notable that I’ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist — especially since I wasn’t the only reporter there" – adding:
"That framing is telling.”
But "What’s even more telling is the barrage of violent threats, along with homophobic and racist slurs, directed at me online by MAGA supporters and amplified by parts of the right-wing press." ASSET []
Right, and with that, he may be in part referring to the response he got from rapper Nicki Minaj – who you had launching a homophobic attack against him, and saying:
“WANT THAT THUG IN JAIL!!!!!
LOCK HIM UP!”
Something he’s since clapped back against – saying she should “get a life”
But with all that, while you’ve had the Trump administration framing this protest as an attack on Christians, at least some of the protesters? They identified as Christians themselves.
Including one of the organizers, a civil rights lawyer who says she’s also an ordained reverend.
And she said she wanted to make members of the church aware of Easterwood’s involvement in the administration’s immigration crackdown – saying:
“To have someone in the role of a pastor also being in that role as an overseer is unconscionable.”
Adding that Jesus “called out religious leaders for their hypocrisy” and arguing that “That’s part of our duty as Christians.” []
And with that, of course, the examples showing why a Christian may have a problem with ICE only keep piling up – especially in Minnesota.
With one of the latest incidents sparking outrage allegedly involving federal agents forcing open a door and detaining a U.S. citizen in his home at gunpoint without a warrant.
Then leading him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions before loading him into a car – driving him away and then making him get out again so they could take a picture (BROLL: 0:07-0:17, 0:44-0:48)
And when the agents eventually realized that he was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, they drove him back home – allegedly leaving without apologizing for detaining him or breaking his door.
DHS defended itself by describing what happened as a “targeted operation” seeking two convicted sex offenders that the agency claimed lived with the man – a claim the family disputed.
But either way, while this man made it home, many others have not,
And with what we’re seeing agents do while being recorded there are grave concerns about what may be happening behind closed doors – especially because more people are dying in ICE custody than almost ever before.
Just today, ICE announced an immigrant from Nicaragua was found dead at a Texas immigration detention facility last week – with the agency claiming he appears to have killed himself.
And notably, this is the same facility where ICE said someone else died on January 3rd after attempting to take his own life – a man named Geraldo Lunas Campos (Heh-ral-doh Loo-nas Camp-os - AUDIO
The only problem with that story?
Another detainee claims he saw at least five guards struggling with Lunas Campos – who was complaining that he didn’t have his medication.
And who was then choked to death while repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe” in Spanish. []
And you’ve had an employee of the county’s medical examiner's office backing that up by telling Lunas Campos’s daughter that the preliminary cause of death has been listed as “asphyxia due to neck and chest compression.”
And that the office is likely to classify the incident as a homicide pending the results of a toxicology report.
Of course, ICE’s initial statement gave no cause of death – claiming Lunas Campos “became disruptive” while in line for his medication and was then placed in segregation – where “staff observed him in distress.” []
With a DHS spokesperson later claiming that he “violently resisted” the staff and “and continued to attempt to take his life” and that “During the ensuing struggle, [he] stopped breathing and lost consciousness.”
But also curiously, the administration has also reportedly made moves to try and quickly deport two detainees who gave differing accounts of what happened to the Washington Post.
And while the spokesperson declined to say whether the effort had anything to do with what happened, legal experts say deporting them could make it more difficult for investigators to obtain and verify their accounts.
ICE has also emphasized that Lunas Campos was convicted of several crimes – including aggravated assault with a weapon and first-degree sexual abuse involving a child.
But notably, available data suggests that most immigrants in ICE detention have no criminal record.
And they may face the substandard conditions and physical and sexual abuse that has been reported at facilities across the county, but especially this one in Texas.
Hell, even ICE’s own inspectors have cited dozens of violations.
And with all that, deaths nationwide have occurred with shocking frequency.
Right, at least 30 detainees died in 2025 – the highest annual total in more than twenty years – back to the first full year of ICE’s existence.
And this year, on top of the two who have died at this place in Texas, there have been at least three other deaths – putting the country on track to absolutely shatter the record.
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Yet ANOTHER group of public health organizations has filed a lawsuit to reverse RFK Jr.’s new vaccine guidance that absolutely gutted the recommended childhood schedule of shots.
Right, as we talked about a few weeks back, the CDC changed its guidance so it will no longer recommend that every child receive six key immunizations: hepatitis A & B, flu, meningitis, RSV, and rotavirus.
Dramatically reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11.
So now, instead of encouraging Americans to give their children life-saving vaccines, the CDC guidelines say those shots should only be administered to smaller groups of high-risk kids or when a doctor recommends them.
And, not long after that decision was announced, you had a group of the six leading medical organizations amending a lawsuit they already had against OTHER vaccine changes to include the new updates.
With the organizations there arguing that the changes aren’t based on any kind of scientific evidence and will be incredibly harmful to the public.
But now, other groups are dog-piling on — right, this new challenge was filed as part of that broader lawsuit and takes aim at RFK Jr. directly.
Right, specifically, the suit accuses Kennedy of “inappropriately” influencing a key vaccine advisory committee called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, by packing it with unqualified experts who share his anti-vaccine views.
And in addition to trying to reverse all the recent childhood vaccine schedule changes, the new suit is also asking the court to prevent the current members of ACIP from holding ANY future meetings.
With the complaint noting that, under federal law, the committee is required to be “fairly balanced” and not “inappropriately influenced.”
But the groups contend that is not the case, claiming that ACIP has been stacked with RFK Jr. loyalists whose views go against scientific consensus.
And specifically, the suit cites past statements by recently appointed members questioning the validity of vaccines.
With the complaint also alleging — based on unspecified “information and belief” — that only Republicans and independents were considered as members of the committee.
And going on to note that more than half of the committee’s members have public views that align with RFK Jr.’s, while also accusing the committee of spreading misinformation, arguing:
“The public meetings of this [advisory board] have served as a megaphone for spreading misinformation about immunization and infectious diseases that is directly harming the Plaintiffs and the American public.”
Meanwhile, all of this is going down as experts say the U.S. is also now at risk of losing its measles elimination status in the coming months.
Right, according to reports, today marks one year to the day that the strain of measles that caused a massive outbreak in West Texas was first detected.
And in the 12 months that followed, the U.S. has witnessed its worst year for measles in decades.
Right, by the end of 2025, more than 2,200 cases had been confirmed — that’s the highest number reported in the U.S. in 33 years, before measles was declared eliminated in the U.S.
And those outbreaks also brought about the first measles deaths in over a decade, taking the lives of two unvaccinated children in Texas and one unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.
And now, a year later, the virus is continuing to circulate, with outbreaks currently ongoing in Utah and South Carolina.
But it’s those new outbreaks that have the potential to end America’s measles elimination status.
Right, that designation is given by a panel of international experts at the U.N. to countries that have not had a continuous spread of measles for over a year.
And that’s a public health achievement that the U.S. fought for fiercely — right, we won that status in 2000 after a nearly four-decade-long campaign to promote the measles vaccine, and we’ve maintained it every year since.
But RFK Jr.’s first year in office could also be the first year the U.S. loses its elimination status.
Right, in order to keep its elimination status, the U.S. needs to prove that the same strain of measles that caused the outbreaks last January has not continued to spread for a full year.
Or, in other words, the country needs to show that the current outbreaks in Utah and South Carolina are not being caused by the same strain as the Texas outbreaks.
Now, with all this, experts say that losing our elimination status is mainly symbolic in practice, but it’s still incredibly significant because it is a real, tangible piece of evidence that shows the impact of sliding vaccination rates and growing vaccine skepticism that have only been exacerbated by RFK Jr.
But apparently, Kennedy’s efforts to fuck up childhood immunizations go beyond the U.S.
Right, you now have The Washington Post reporting that a controversial infant vaccine trial in Africa backed by RFK Jr. is set to proceed despite widespread backlash from the medical community.
According to the outlet, last month, the CDC gave researchers at the University of Southern Denmark’s Bandim Health Project a $1.6 million grant to conduct a study on the health effects of hepatitis B vaccine dose timing using around 14,000 infants in Guinea-Bissau (Gih-Nee Bih-Sow — “sow” like “cow,” here’s how to say).
And specifically, researchers say that, as part of their study, some infants will be given a hep B shot at birth, while others will not receive it until they are six weeks old.
With the researchers then tracking participants over five years to document early-life mortality, morbidity, and long-term developmental outcomes.
Now, very notably here, hep B is relatively common in the country, and while their currently policy is to give the first immuninzation at six weeks, the nation is set to transition to giving a birth dose.
And, despite what the U.S. might now officially recommend, a birth dose is the standard recommended by the WHO, largely because it’s widely effective at preventing early transmission.
So, as a result, you have many critics arguing that it’s unethical to randomize which children will get the recommended treatment and which will get the inferior treatment, even if the country’s norms haven’t officially shifted yet.
With top experts and former officials saying the trial appears to violate accepted ethics for medical research and risks eroding vaccine trust in one of the world’s poorest nations, and potentially beyond.
Others also say that the trial — which wasn’t approved by ethics boards in either the U.S. or Denmark — could risk exploiting a vulnerable group of people who have limited access to the hep B shot because of the country’s poor vaccine infrastructure.
And, even beyond that, you also had some noting that there’s not even really a need for this study.
Right, the Bandim Health Project claims the trial is filling a gap about the overall health impacts of a hep B vaccine birth dose.
But, as one infectious disease expert explained, the benefits of a birth dose are already considered “settled science,” so the project would intentionally deny some babies a proven and recommended treatment to study a vaccine that’s already been proven effective.
Adding that the results of the study wouldn’t be applicable to the U.S. anyway, because the health landscape is so dramatically different.
And noting that there are numerous factors in the country that could impact the results of the study, like poverty, political instability, high infant mortality, and low access to health care.
Now, very notably here, you did initially the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which is an arm of the African Union — saying last week that the study had been canceled.
Citing an undated document attributed to Gih-Nee Bih-Sow’s new government, which was formed after a military coup last year.
But a spokesperson for HHS contradicted that, telling reporters that the research is in fact set to proceed.
[Tying into Brian’s write-up on RFK and meat] But it’s not just vaccine recommendations that RFK Jr. is trying to change.
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He’s also changing dietary recommendations -- and if America listens to it then there will be major environmental impacts.
There probably won’t be big health impacts because the government’s dietary recommendations were already ignored for being out-of-date.
But things kicked off at the start of the year when RFK Jr. revealed a new pyramid of dietary recommendations.[]
The short version is that it places a higher emphasis on proteins and a MUCH lower emphasis on grains compared to before.[ ]
The only reasons this even drew headlines were because most people already knew the food pyramid wasn’t perfect by any means…
and because it was literally this South Park joke: @0:22-0:42
Something that RFK Jr. had no problem leaning into by remaking the scene. [broll]
And the images on the pyramid raised eyebrows, such as the fact beef is placed above what are commonly viewed as very healthy proteins like fish and shrimp.
In more practical terms, the recommendations include things like pushing for meat at every meal.[]
The government also REALLY wants you to eat and drink dairy.
Emphasis on the Whole part of milk, because it’s in line with the administration’s recommendations to consume more fats.
(Although at the end of the day, whole milk’s 3%-ish fat content is barely more than lower-fat options like 2%).
It’s borderline ridiculous to claim there’s a war on protein, as products have increasingly branded themselves as high-in-protein.
Even otherwise unhealthy things are adding it now, like these Pop-Tarts with 10g of protein.
Americans as a whole are consuming protein at record numbers and protein deficiency is essentially non-existent.
Almost all of that comes from land-based animals, and the push for MORE protein means it needs to come from somewhere.
Say there was a 25% increase in protein consumption from animals.
That would require something like 100 million acres of land.
That’s an area of land slightly bigger than Montana.
The impacts of the meat industry can’t be understated either.
Cows are a major contributor to greenhouse gasses -- not that the Trump administration would care.
And the factories that process meat are a major polluter of rivers and other bodies of water.
All of which is kind of ironic, because that’s not me saying but RFK Jr. back in 2004. [read]
“The factory meat industry has polluted thousands of miles of America’s rivers, killed billions of fish, pushed tens of thousands of family farmers off their land, sickened and killed thousands of US citizens, and treated millions of farm animals with unspeakable and unnecessary cruelty.
Also, a lot of these changes don’t seem to come from a concern about America’s health.
But instead worrying about American ranchers, with a spokesperson for the HHS saying:
“The Trump administration will no longer weaponize federal food policy to destroy the livelihoods of hard-working American ranchers and protein producers under the radical dogma of the Green New Scam.”
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Then, in more news you need to know, this Netflix and Paramount fight over Warner Brothers is not going away any time soon.
Because Netflix is now throwing an all cash offer at WB.
If you need a quick TLDR, Warner Bros put itself up for sale last year, and eventually a deal was announced for Netflix to buy it.
But Paramount responded by launching a hostile takeover bid, and while WB has repeatedly rejected their offers, Paramount is refusing to give up the fight.
So now, this new Netflix offer has clearly been made to fend Paramount off.
It is worth just under $28 per share, amounting to an $83 billion enterprise value. []
Both companies say this simplifies and clarifies the offer, and allows for a shareholder vote by April.
But it also will just put the pressure on Paramount to throw more shiny objects at WB.
Though, as we have talked about before, both of these deals will have major hurdles.
Not just because there is a ton of concern and criticism in Hollywood, but also because they will need regulatory approval from the Trump administration.
And that especially is notable, because it comes as Trump has been inserting his nose here.
Just over the weekend, we learned that after Netflix and WB first announced their deal last year, Trump purchased up to $2 million in bonds in both companies.
This came from a financial disclosure form released by the White House, which shows he made investments on December 12 and 16.
And while the White House said that his stock and bond portfolio is managed independently and that there are no conflicts of interest,[]
The news still raised some alarms, because Trump himself said he would be “involved” in reviewing any Warner Bros. deal.
Which, for the record, he should not be.
But that has not stopped him from weighing in very publicly, even though he has not made it clear where exactly he stands.
For example, just over a week ago he took to Truth Social to link out an op-ed titled “Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover.”[]
And that op-ed argues that Paramount’s bid is of “significantly higher value” than Netflix’s, but that:[]
“WBD’s board rejected a financially superior offer because Netflix was the woker, ideologically preferred buyer.”
And it calls on the Trump administration “to say no to a woke media monopoly before the damage becomes impossible to reverse.”
So you might see that and think it looks pretty clear that Trump might favor Paramount.
But not so fast, because just a month ago, he raged against Paramount, CBS, and the leadership there, saying “if they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies.”[]
And sure, since then, CBS and Paramount have gone into Kiss Trump’s Ass Overdrive mode.
And the fight for WB is likely a major motivator behind CBS’s big rightward shift, which we talked about yesterday.
But all of this still remains, way, way up in the air.
And we have to see who actually wins the bidding war, and what role the government plays once a final winner is crowned.
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