Donald Trump made it known that he’s watching what changes are being made at CBS News since David Ellison took control of parent Paramount.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One late Sunday, Trump asked them, “So who’s going to be the head anchor at CBS?” He paused for a second and said, “Not Norah O’Donnell. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it.”
Trump then added, “Larry Ellison is great and his son, David is great. They’re friends of mine. They’re big supporters of mine. And they’ll do the right thing. They’ll make CBS — they called it the Tiffany Network, and it’s got great potential. CBS has great potential.”
Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father, supported Trump in the 2024 election. David Ellison contributed to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and to Democrats in the last cycle, although he has met with Trump earlier this year, as he was spotted ringside at a UFC match with him earlier this year.
The younger Ellison also has installed Bari Weiss, an opinion columnist who launched the center-right site The Free Press, as the editor in chief of CBS News last week.
In his comments about the next CBS News anchor, Trump appeared to be referencing a Status story that O’Donnell and another CBS News personality, Tony Dokoupil, were under consideration to helm the CBS Evening News. The ratings for the broadcast have been lackluster since O’Donnell’s departure earlier this year. She was succeeded by John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, with a focus on correspondent storytelling. But ratings fell, and some staffers said that the broadcast had lost sight of viewers’ desire for breaking news headlines, as is highlighted on ABC’s World News Tonight, the ratings leader.
On Friday, O’Donnell moderated a discussion on Trump’s mideast peace discount and the Gaza ceasefire with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
As he sought FCC approval for the Skydance-Paramount transaction, David Ellison committed to hiring an ombudsman to take complaints about bias in the news division. Paramount hired Kenneth Weinstein, the former president and CEO of the Hudson Institute, a right-leaning think tank.
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