What is happening to American media right now is unique and deserves far more attention in Europe than it has received. This isn’t just about lawsuits for outrageous sums of money, but about massive corporate takeovers that will have lasting effects on the entire media landscape.
The most politically interesting part isn’t that President Trump has collected $86.5 million in settlements so far. It’s what’s happening at the same time.
A media takeover
On one hand, established media outlets, often deservedly, are enduring financial attacks through multi-million-dollar lawsuits from Trump. At the same time, Trump-aligned actors are making active acquisitions.
Few people in the Netherlands have likely heard of the Ellison family. The Financial Times called them “America’s new Rockefellers” in an article last fall, and that’s no coincidence. They aren’t just one of the world’s most powerful families; they also use their fortune to keep expanding their influence.
Above all, this is about a duo: father and son. The father, Larry Ellison, quietly gave around $45 million to Trump’s campaign and later found himself admitted to Trump’s inner circle.
Shortly after the inauguration, his software company, Oracle, secured enormous contracts within the U.S. government’s AI initiatives, and became a 15% owner of American TikTok, a deal Trump himself forced through despite many Republican voices actually wanting to ban the Chinese app outright.
His son David Ellison already owned Paramount Skydance. Last fall, he also got the green light from the U.S. Department of Justice, after an antitrust review, to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. This puts even more major institutions under the Ellison family’s control: CBS News and CNN; the studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.; and the streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, which together boast over 200 million subscribers.
Trump has praised the deal (and has himself held investments in both Paramount and Warner Bros.). But these are staggering sums of money, which is why the Ellisons, naturally, haven’t paid for it all themselves.
Part of the massive capital comes from the Gulf states, which will together own just under 50%, according to the Financial Times. The deal offers a rare opportunity to acquire a significant stake in one of America’s premier media companies, a “soft power” holding that would otherwise have been out of reach. Investments in Hollywood’s intellectual property also align with the Gulf states’ efforts to diversify their economies.
The Gulf states’ involvement is no coincidence from the American side either. The Trump family has put significant effort into striking its own private deals with them during this term, deals that would never have been possible had Trump not been re-elected president.
Everything is in motion
What’s happening in the American media market is, by all appearances, a gradual regime change through acquisition.
Media’s left-wing lean is meant to become right-leaning. CNN’s newsroom is meant to be reined in. Right-leaning figure Bari Weiss now leads CBS, and presumably, we’ll see fewer “woke” films and shows on certain streaming platforms. Or will we?
Officially, David Ellison has said nothing of the sort. On the contrary, he says he won’t issue directives to newsrooms. But given the context, one can at least expect that certain witch hunts, or perhaps honest scrutiny, of the Trump family’s dealings will cease. Still, given how badly off mainstream American media already was, the transformation will likely bring some good.
David Ellison himself has grand visions for this power takeover. His stated goal is to change how Hollywood operates. He says he wants to build a leading company in film, TV, animation, sports, and gaming, not just house studios. It’s meant to function as both a media and a tech company.
He compares his own strategy to how Microsoft and Oracle once “disrupted their own businesses” before reaching new record heights, a deliberate dismantling of the old to build something new.
But alongside this ‘coup,’ an organic shift is also underway that’s worth remembering. New media is simply outcompeting the old in traffic and attention. The biggest names on the new platforms are non-woke figures like Joe Rogan and Theo Von and a right-leaning figure like Tucker Carlson.
Previously, both Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, both of whom donated to Trump’s campaign, bought up Twitter and the Washington Post, respectively.
And two years into the term, a clear playbook has now emerged for anyone wanting to jump on this trend: Trump can sue a media company for outrageous sums, and he can also help clear the way past federal antitrust barriers for acquisitions. On top of that, there’s external financial backing from abroad.
No cultural revolution
It’s difficult, however, to predict what the future holds, since so many stakeholders are involved.
Beyond the Gulf states’ influence, the Ellison family also has a strong connection to the state of Israel: Larry Ellison is reportedly one of the world’s largest private donors to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and a close friend of Netanyahu. More importantly, the entire arrangement hinges on the goodwill of the Trump family. That kind of thing rarely comes for free.
What’s more, if the Democrats win in 2028, the entire MAGA movement will likely face a judicial witch hunt over corruption allegations that would make everything Donald himself went through from 2021 to 2024 pale by comparison. If so, it may all have been for nothing.
In the end, then, this doesn’t amount to a conservative coup against left-wing media. There’s no idealism here, no deeper thinking about how a new culture could lead to a new and better political landscape (to borrow Breitbart’s famous words).
It all comes down to the Trump clan’s own interests. He feels personally wronged and wants revenge. He wants to make money and help his friends do the same. The rest of us, who hoped for an American conservative cultural revolution in media, will probably have to keep waiting. But in the meantime, a few more movies will get less woke.
How Trump Loyalists Are Taking Over American Media
Oracle co-founder, CTO, and Executive Chairman Larry Ellison, accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.
ANDREW HARNIK / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
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What is happening to American media right now is unique and deserves far more attention in Europe than it has received. This isn’t just about lawsuits for outrageous sums of money, but about massive corporate takeovers that will have lasting effects on the entire media landscape.
The most politically interesting part isn’t that President Trump has collected $86.5 million in settlements so far. It’s what’s happening at the same time.
A media takeover
On one hand, established media outlets, often deservedly, are enduring financial attacks through multi-million-dollar lawsuits from Trump. At the same time, Trump-aligned actors are making active acquisitions.
Few people in the Netherlands have likely heard of the Ellison family. The Financial Times called them “America’s new Rockefellers” in an article last fall, and that’s no coincidence. They aren’t just one of the world’s most powerful families; they also use their fortune to keep expanding their influence.
Above all, this is about a duo: father and son. The father, Larry Ellison, quietly gave around $45 million to Trump’s campaign and later found himself admitted to Trump’s inner circle.
Shortly after the inauguration, his software company, Oracle, secured enormous contracts within the U.S. government’s AI initiatives, and became a 15% owner of American TikTok, a deal Trump himself forced through despite many Republican voices actually wanting to ban the Chinese app outright.
His son David Ellison already owned Paramount Skydance. Last fall, he also got the green light from the U.S. Department of Justice, after an antitrust review, to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. This puts even more major institutions under the Ellison family’s control: CBS News and CNN; the studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.; and the streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, which together boast over 200 million subscribers.
Trump has praised the deal (and has himself held investments in both Paramount and Warner Bros.). But these are staggering sums of money, which is why the Ellisons, naturally, haven’t paid for it all themselves.
Part of the massive capital comes from the Gulf states, which will together own just under 50%, according to the Financial Times. The deal offers a rare opportunity to acquire a significant stake in one of America’s premier media companies, a “soft power” holding that would otherwise have been out of reach. Investments in Hollywood’s intellectual property also align with the Gulf states’ efforts to diversify their economies.
The Gulf states’ involvement is no coincidence from the American side either. The Trump family has put significant effort into striking its own private deals with them during this term, deals that would never have been possible had Trump not been re-elected president.
Everything is in motion
What’s happening in the American media market is, by all appearances, a gradual regime change through acquisition.
Media’s left-wing lean is meant to become right-leaning. CNN’s newsroom is meant to be reined in. Right-leaning figure Bari Weiss now leads CBS, and presumably, we’ll see fewer “woke” films and shows on certain streaming platforms. Or will we?
Officially, David Ellison has said nothing of the sort. On the contrary, he says he won’t issue directives to newsrooms. But given the context, one can at least expect that certain witch hunts, or perhaps honest scrutiny, of the Trump family’s dealings will cease. Still, given how badly off mainstream American media already was, the transformation will likely bring some good.
David Ellison himself has grand visions for this power takeover. His stated goal is to change how Hollywood operates. He says he wants to build a leading company in film, TV, animation, sports, and gaming, not just house studios. It’s meant to function as both a media and a tech company.
He compares his own strategy to how Microsoft and Oracle once “disrupted their own businesses” before reaching new record heights, a deliberate dismantling of the old to build something new.
But alongside this ‘coup,’ an organic shift is also underway that’s worth remembering. New media is simply outcompeting the old in traffic and attention. The biggest names on the new platforms are non-woke figures like Joe Rogan and Theo Von and a right-leaning figure like Tucker Carlson.
Previously, both Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, both of whom donated to Trump’s campaign, bought up Twitter and the Washington Post, respectively.
And two years into the term, a clear playbook has now emerged for anyone wanting to jump on this trend: Trump can sue a media company for outrageous sums, and he can also help clear the way past federal antitrust barriers for acquisitions. On top of that, there’s external financial backing from abroad.
No cultural revolution
It’s difficult, however, to predict what the future holds, since so many stakeholders are involved.
Beyond the Gulf states’ influence, the Ellison family also has a strong connection to the state of Israel: Larry Ellison is reportedly one of the world’s largest private donors to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and a close friend of Netanyahu. More importantly, the entire arrangement hinges on the goodwill of the Trump family. That kind of thing rarely comes for free.
What’s more, if the Democrats win in 2028, the entire MAGA movement will likely face a judicial witch hunt over corruption allegations that would make everything Donald himself went through from 2021 to 2024 pale by comparison. If so, it may all have been for nothing.
In the end, then, this doesn’t amount to a conservative coup against left-wing media. There’s no idealism here, no deeper thinking about how a new culture could lead to a new and better political landscape (to borrow Breitbart’s famous words).
It all comes down to the Trump clan’s own interests. He feels personally wronged and wants revenge. He wants to make money and help his friends do the same. The rest of us, who hoped for an American conservative cultural revolution in media, will probably have to keep waiting. But in the meantime, a few more movies will get less woke.
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