President-elect Donald Trump will meet with AT&T executives on Thursday to discuss the company’s proposed $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner Inc., according to Bloomberg.
Trump has publicly opposed the deal and the meeting comes less than 24 hours after he ripped Time Warner’s CNN as “fake news” during his first press conference since winning the election.
Trump’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“If AT&T had to spin off CNN to get the deal approved, I suspect they would be willing to do so,” analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson told the New York Post. “Based on everything AT&T has said publicly, their principal interest is in Time Warner’s entertainment properties, not their news business.”
Trump has opposed the proposed $85.4 billion takeover bid, saying, “It’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.”
Bloomberg reported that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs Robert Quinn have already been spotted at Trump Tower on Thursday.
The deal would create a distribution and content colossus of the digital age, bringing together premium assets including satellite TV provider DirecTV, cell phone network AT&T Wireless, the Warner Bros. movie and television studios, and HBO and Turner cable channels under one, massive corporate roof.
Meanwhile, Trump showed no signs of backing down from his feud with CNN over “fake news.”
.@CNN is in a total meltdown with their FAKE NEWS because their ratings are tanking since election and their credibility will soon be gone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2017