Pete Hegseth Says ‘the Sooner David Ellison’ Buys CNN, ‘the Better’

The remarks fueled concerns that CNN’s prospective new owner may shift its coverage in a Trump-friendly direction.

Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, said on Friday that he was looking forward to CNN being controlled by the billionaire David Ellison and implied that the channel’s journalism would improve under new leadership.

“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” he said during a briefing at the Pentagon.

Mr. Ellison, a technology scion who is friendly with President Trump, is the owner of Paramount Skydance, whose pending purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery includes CNN. The sale requires approval from the Trump administration.

Mr. Hegseth’s remarks, made during a lengthy complaint about coverage of the war in the Middle East, underscored concerns within CNN and elsewhere in the media industry that Mr. Ellison could shift the network’s reporting in a Trump-friendly direction.