Trump cranks up war on 'fake news' CNN by meeting AT&T bosses - as they seek his administration's approval for $85 billion merger which would give them news network

  • President-elect Donald Trump unloaded on CNN reporter Jim Acosta Wednesday over the 'terrible' network's 'fake news' after it reported on intelligence documents claiming Russians had compromising information on him
  • Thursday morning, Randall Stephenson, the CEO of telecom giant AT&T appeared at Trump Tower
  • He tweeted Thursday that the network is in 'total meltdown' 
  • AT&T is seeking federal approval for its proposed multi-billion merger with the cable network's parent company
  • Time Warner owns CNN - but also HBO, the Warner Bros studios in Hollywood, and networks and cable channels including TNT and TBS and has sports deals 
  • Trump has criticized the merger on the campaign trail; it is effectively a take over and AT&T are leading the regulatory charge  

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.s. Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:22 EST, 12 January 2017 | Updated: 11:48 EST, 12 January 2017

 A day after unleashing a furious tirade against CNN, President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with the head of telecom giant AT&T, which is seeking federal approval for an $85 billion merger with the network's parent company. 

Trump kept up his attack on the cable network Thursday morning, tweeting that CNN 'is in a total meltdown with their FAKE NEWS because their ratings are tanking since election and their credibility will soon be gone!'

He sent out the tweet just about 10 minutes after a trio of AT&T execs were spotted entering Trump Tower, presumably to meet with him. 

The execs entered Trump Tower at 9:13 AM, but didn't get in the elevator until about 30 minutes later. Trump sent out the tweet while they were awaiting their visit to the building's upper floors.

The company is currently beginning the regulatory approval process to merge with Time Warner in a deal worth $85 billion. 

Trump unloaded on CNN's White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, at his press conference Wednesday, accusing the network of peddling 'fake news' after it published an explosive story saying Trump and President Obama had been provided with a summary of claims the Russians had compromising material on him.

AT&T execs showed up at Trump Tower on Thursday, a day after President-elect Donald Trump unloaded on CNN's White House correspondent

'Your organization is terrible,' he told Acosta, refusing to call on him for a question.

Trump will soon be in position to deliver much more than a dressing-down.

In just nine days, his administration's anti-trust officials will get to consider whether to green light a proposed merger between the two companies. 

Appearing at Trump Tower on Thursday was  Randall Stephenson, the CEO of of AT&T, along with Robert Quinn a senior executive vice president of the company for internal and legislative affairs, and a third individual.

They declined reporters' questions. 

WAKE-UP CALL: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson arrives in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York Thursday

REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE: Stephenson arrived about 10 minutes before Trump sent out a tweet attacking CNN

CNN'S SISTER FIRMS 

CNN is part of the Time Warner family. Its other assets are almost exclusively entertainment focused and include:

HBO

DC Entertainment - which produces Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman comics, movies and video games

Warner Brothers - which has made the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Dark Knight movies and The Bachelor, Big Bang Theory and Friends

Television stations - TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Turner Sports

Websites - PGA.com, Bleacher Report, NBA.com 

Trump's tirade had some analysts questioning whether the deal itself would have to be reshaped.

Time Warner owns CNN but it also owns lucrative entertainment assets including HBO, Warner Brothers Studious, DC Entertainment - which owns Batman, Superman and a series of other superheroes - and the TBS and TNT television networks.

CNN is profit-making with the Washington Post reporting in October that it was making $1 billion in profit as a result of the election.

However analysts suggested that the loss of that profit would be a price worth paying for AT&T if it was what it needed for the sale to be approved.

Any purchaser of CNN would face their own regulatory approval process. 

'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's Justice Department must sign off on the deal for it to go through.

Trump went after CNN in part by lumping it together with BuzzFeed, whom he called a 'pile of garbage' at the same presser.

The online site published a dirty of dossier that included salacious and unproven information about Trump – a document that CNN says it possessed but declined to publish in its report.

Trump said in a speech in October, 'As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few,' CNN Money reported. 

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