'All hell breaking loose' at CNN: report

President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, recently mused aloud that he looks forward to billionaire David Ellison taking over CNN. For the same reasons that Hegseth is excited about this prospect, CNN employees and advocates of free journalism are filled with dread.

“Since 2015, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented more than 3,500 anti-press social media posts from Trump,” The Washington Post reported on Sunday. “Hundreds of them specifically mention CNN.”

The paper added, “The cable news network is currently run by the British-born Thompson, the former chief executive at the New York Times who took the helm in 2023 after Chris Licht’s tumultuous turn. Staffers generally expressed faith in Thompson, who has emphasized building a consumer subscription business without repeating the mistakes of CNN+ or scaling back the existing cable offering.”

Yet even though Thomas wants to stay in charge of CNN, it is quite possible that people will leave the company despite their widespread faith in his abilities. The Post reported pervasive fears that, despite their reassurances to the contrary, Ellison will follow the wishes of Trump, Hegseth and others in MAGA world by turning the ostensibly objective network in a more pro-Trump direction.

“Everyone had 24 hours to worry about Paramount, but then all hell broke loose,” a reporter told the Post, with the “hell” in question being Trump’s decision to invade Iran. Yet reporters remain aware of the president’s looming influence, such as when Trump called CNN’s Kaitlan Collins a “worst reporter” who needed to “smile” more after she asked him about files related to his link to the late child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

“Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional journalist, reporting every day from the White House and the field with real depth and tenacity,” a CNN spokesperson told the Post.

Trump is also hostile to CNN anchor Brianna Keilar, who despite the president’s animus continues to offer unflattering coverage. Last week Keilar pointed out that Trump has offered no exit strategy for the Iran war during a speech intended to serve that purpose, and that his statements about gas prices being bearable contradicts people’s lived experiences. In fact, states which supported Trump in the 2024 election are seeing disproportionate rate increases, such as Utah rising by $1.46 or Arizona rising by $1.37.

“How long can people really bear that?” Keilar asked former Trump advisor Stephen Moore. When Moore tried to spin the increases as caused by “inflation,” Keilar pushed back.

“Can we just be clear? This isn't inflation,” Keilar told Moore. “This is the effect of a foreign policy decision [Trump’s war] on something that people can't avoid.”

Meanwhile CNN analyst Harry Enten, who once received Trump’s praise when he cited a poll showing 100% of MAGA Republicans back his war in Iran, has recently shared much less flattering data.

“If I was in the White House, I'd be shaking,” Enten said. “I'd be shaking in place because there'd be nowhere to hide. And of course, if I was in Congress running at the end of this year, I'd be shaking as well.”

After all, Enten noted that only one out of five independents approve of Trump’s handling of gas prices.

“You can't win elections when only one in five independents approve of you on gas prices,” Enten said, adding that the president’s gas policy does not even have the support of three out of five people in his own base. “I mean, my goodness gracious, we're talking about Joe Biden levels right here l when it comes to approving of Trump on gas prices.”