Breakingviews: CNN sale could be pivotal in AT&T-Time Warner deal

Breakingviews
Jennifer Saba
WATCH LIVE
Host Anderson Cooper speaks onstage during the CNN Heroes Gala 2016 at the American Museum of Natural History on December 11, 2016 in New York City.
Getty Images

It's hard to predict anything about Donald Trump's presidency. That's true for the approval of AT&T's $85.4 billion deal to buy Time Warner, too. At the very least, U.S. watchdogs could demand concessions from the telecom firm to allow the merger. One could be disposing of news network CNN.

Even before the reality-TV star won the White House, he expressed disapproval of the deal, saying it concentrated power too much, specifically in relation to the media. Time Warner owns CNN.

Then, during Wednesday's unorthodox press conference, Trump singled out CNN for criticism – as he often did on the campaign trail – along with BuzzFeed. He labeled both outlets peddlers of "fake news" and refused to take a question from a CNN anchor.