Trump says CNN should be sold as part of any Warner Bros. deal

The president's comments are notable because the proposed deal with Netflix would not include cable channels owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, such as CNN, TNT.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he thinks it's "imperative" that CNN is sold as its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, gears up for a proposed merger with Netflix and faces a hostile takeover bid from Paramount.

"I think CNN should be sold, because I think the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent," Trump told reporters during a roundtable with business executives at the White House.

"I don't think they should be entrusted with running CNN any longer. So I think any deal should — it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately," he added. "I think CNN should be sold along with everything else."

Trump was responding to a question about changes he would like to see to the cable news network after The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Paramount CEO David Ellison visited Trump in Washington and said he would make significant changes to CNN. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

"I will be probably involved, maybe involved in the decision. It depends. You have some good companies bidding on it," Trump said at the White House event before he launched into his broader criticism of CNN's leadership.