Trump Holds Secret Meeting to Take Over Network

Summary

Legal AF Podcast Summary

Episode: Trump Holds Secret Meeting to Take Over Network
Release Date: July 26, 2025
Host: Michael Popak
Produced by: Meidas Media Network

---

1. Introduction to the Episode

In this gripping episode of Legal AF by MeidasTouch, host Michael Popak delves into a significant development involving former President Donald Trump and his alleged maneuvering to gain control over a major media network. The episode meticulously dissects a recently uncovered letter from the legal representatives of CBS's new purchaser, shedding light on the intricate ties between media acquisitions and political influences.

---

2. Unveiling the Secret Agreement

Discovery of the Letter

At [00:59], Michael Popak introduces a pivotal document: a letter from Latham & Watkins, the law firm representing the new buyers of CBS. This letter contains a promise to Donald Trump that CBS would transform into a "pro-Trump" network, mirroring the ideological stance of Fox News.

Michael Popak ([00:59]): "I found right here in a letter from the lawyers representing the new purchaser of CBS. A promise to Donald Trump... they're going to be the new Fox News and they're going to be pro Trump 247..."

Details of the Agreement

Popak explains that the approval of the transaction, which involves Skydance and David Ellison—son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison—required assurances of a pro-Trump editorial stance. This was a strategic move to secure approval amidst regulatory scrutiny.

---

3. The Role of Brendan Carr and the FCC

Brendan Carr's Involvement

Brendan Carr, appointed by Trump as the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), played a crucial role in approving the CBS transaction. Popak highlights Carr's acknowledgment of declining trust in legacy media and the purported need for a change.

Michael Popak ([02:15]): "Brendan Carr said, 'Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately and fairly. It's time for a change.'"

Implications for Media Regulation

This collaboration underscores the influence wielded by political appointees within regulatory bodies, raising concerns about the impartiality of media oversight in the United States.

---

4. The Acquisition Dynamics: Skydance and Paramount

Skydance's Strategic Move

The acquisition involves Skydance, led by David Ellison, aiming to purchase Paramount's assets from the Sumner Redstone family. This move is positioned as beneficial for CBS's long-term growth, with assurances of maintaining unbiased journalism.

Michael Popak ([04:30]): "Skydance's commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints... ensure CBS editorial decision making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers."

Analysis of Public Interest Claims

Popak critiques the notion of "unbiased journalism," arguing that the promises made are, in reality, steering the network towards a pro-Trump agenda.

Michael Popak ([05:10]): "We don't want ideological views on CBS News. That's the point."

---

5. The Fallout for CBS and 60 Minutes

Litigation and Editorial Changes

CBS's flagship program, 60 Minutes, is embroiled in a lawsuit alleging biased editing of an interview with Kamala Harris, prompting Donald Trump's boycott of the show. Popak suggests that the legal battles are orchestrated to facilitate the desired editorial shift.

Michael Popak ([07:05]): "60 Minutes gets sued for billions of dollars because Donald Trump doesn't like the way... they edited Kamala Harris's answers."

Financial Settlements and Media Control

Popak reveals that CBS is compelled to settle lawsuits with significant payouts, further entrenching Trump's influence over the network.

---

6. The Dismissal of Stephen Colbert

Reasons Behind the Firing

The episode discusses the termination of Stephen Colbert, attributing it to his outspoken criticism of the Trump administration and the CBS leadership's failure to comply with the new pro-Trump editorial direction.

Michael Popak ([10:20]): "Stephen Colbert wasn't fired because of his ratings... He got fired because he had the temerity to take on the Trump administration."

Impact on Journalism Integrity

Colbert's dismissal exemplifies the broader suppression of dissenting voices within major media outlets, signaling a dangerous precedent for journalistic freedom.

---

7. The Future of CBS Under Ellison's Ownership

Transformation into "Tcbs"

Popak predicts a complete overhaul of CBS's identity, suggesting a rebranding to "tcbs" to reflect its new alignment with Trump's ideologies.

Michael Popak ([11:50]): "Why don't they just call it tcbs? That would be easier. Call it tcbs. Yes. Then you're upfront, then you're transparent."

Consequences for Independent Journalism

Under the new ownership, Popak warns that genuine journalists will find it increasingly difficult to operate independently, as editorial decisions become subject to the owners' political leanings.

---

8. Conclusion and Call to Action

Advocacy for Independent Media

Popak emphasizes the importance of supporting independent media platforms like Midas Touch Network and Legal AF to counteract the growing bias in mainstream media.

Michael Popak ([12:30]): "If you haven't cut the cord yet on CBS, cut the cord on CBS. You can't watch them and support them."

Promoting Ground News

He promotes the use of Ground News as a tool for unbiased news consumption, encouraging listeners to diversify their news sources to gain a comprehensive understanding of current events.

Michael Popak ([11:10]): "I use Ground News and frankly, you should too. It's an app and a website that brings together news stories from around the world."

---

Key Takeaways

• Hidden Agendas: The acquisition of CBS by Skydance, backed by David Ellison, may lead to a significant shift towards pro-Trump media coverage.
• Regulatory Influence: Brendan Carr's role in the FCC highlights the intertwining of media transactions and political interests.
• Erosion of Journalistic Integrity: The firing of prominent journalists like Stephen Colbert signals a decline in unbiased reporting within major networks.
• Support for Independent Media: Platforms like Midas Touch Network and Ground News are crucial for maintaining diverse and factual news ecosystems.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Michael Popak ([00:59]): "They're going to be the new Fox News and they're going to be pro Trump 247..."
• Michael Popak ([02:15]): "Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately and fairly."
• Michael Popak ([05:10]): "We don't want ideological views on CBS News. That's the point."
• Michael Popak ([07:05]): "60 Minutes gets sued for billions of dollars because Donald Trump doesn't like the way..."
• Michael Popak ([10:20]): "Stephen Colbert wasn't fired because of his ratings... He got fired because he had the temerity to take on the Trump administration."
• Michael Popak ([11:50]): "Call it tcbs. Yes. Then you're upfront, then you're transparent."

---

Conclusion

This episode of Legal AF provides a critical examination of the delicate interplay between media ownership and political influence. Michael Popak effectively highlights the potential erosion of journalistic standards in the face of corporate and political pressures, urging listeners to seek out and support independent media sources for a more balanced and truthful news landscape.

Transcript

[LifeLock Advertiser]

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two factor authentication, strong passwords and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast for 40% off terms.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Apply everyone's loving family freedom from T Mobile we'll pay off four phones up to $3200 and give you four free phones all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com FamilyFreedom up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone 16128 gigabyte 82999 Eligible trade in eg iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due if you pay off earlier cancel contact T Mobile look what.

[Michael Popak]

I found right here in a letter from the lawyers representing the new purchaser of cbs. A promise to Donald Trump effectively that they're going to be the new Fox News and they're going to be pro Trump 247 in return for the approval of the transaction for Skydance and the and the son of Larry Ellison to buy all of Paramount's assets from the Sumner Redstone family. They wouldn't get that approval unless they made this promise. Here I have it on Latham and Watkins, their lawyers letter ad and there's one thing I finally agree with with Brendan Carr who is the political hack elevated to the head of the Federal Communications Commission by Donald Trump in approving the transaction after he got this promise that they're going to be the new Fox News and be pro Trump, which I'm going to read to you from he said the following and I agree. Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately and fairly. It's time for a change. Our audience knows that you're here on the Midas Touch Network and Legal af. I'm Michael Popak. Let's get down to this letter I just found and the now new announcement after Stephen Colbert got sacrificed that there is a deal and it's been approved and Skydance and Larry Ellison son who's a big Trump supporter are going to be owning the network. This is why legacy media doesn't work because it's Owned by corporate parents who are more worried about their profits and making nice with the Trump administration than freedom of the press. All right, so let's get down to the letter that I found. This was filed and sent into the Federal Communications Commission a few days ago, reporting on a meeting that we did not know about before, but we do now. On July 15, 2025, here's what the lawyers Matthew Brill from Latham and Watkins had to say about that. On July 15, 2025, the underside and David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, met with Chairman Brendan Carr, his chief of staff and others in the bureau, in the Media Bureau. At the meeting we, representing the buyers of CBS News, 60 Minutes and the rest emphasized the public interest benefits of the Sky Dance proposed acquisition of Paramount. That's who owns 60 Minutes and CBS News. We with respect to the Transnet transaction, significant public interest, public interest benefits. We explained that with fresh leadership, with the vision and experience needed to drive New Paramount's long term growth. Wait for it all while preserving and enhancing the legacy and broad reach of both the national CBS television network and the company's 28 owned and operated local television stations. Relatedly, we discussed Skydance's commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS editorial decision making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers. I got news for cbs. We don't want ideological views on CBS News. That's the point. I don't know how you're unbiased journalist and also have diverse ideological views being presented. And let's translate this. Less is like Popoc translate like Google Translate. We are going to run the network to make Donald Trump happy because we needed his approval in order to get the transaction done because he squeezed us about the 60 minute settlement. That's the translation. Let's stop with all the niceties and verbiage and law. Big law firm, big law letterheads. That's what it says. It says, hey, you might have trouble with Rupert Murdoch and Fox right now because Rupert Murdoch is at war with you with the Wall Street Journal. But don't worry, you can count on CBS owned by the Ellison family who are big supporters of yours. That's what this letter says. And as I said, the only thing I agree with with Brendan Carr is you can't trust legacy mainstream media for any of your reporting. That's why we founded Midas Touch. That's why we founded Legal af. So let's back up. How did we get here? The Sumner Redstone family, ever since he died have been trying to figure out a way to cash out on Daddy Redstone's assets. Think the imaginary sixth season of succession on hbo. And they can't figure out how to do it because part of it was based on Murdoch family and part of it was based on the Redstone family that that show. And they're having trouble. They find a buyer in the kid, he's like 30 years old or something. That, that no attack on 30 year olds. They founded the Midas Dutch network. But they the 30 year old son Nepo, baby of Larry Ellison, decides it's through Skydance, he's going to start buying media assets. And Perfect match, right? Shari Redstone's trying to figure out a way to cash out in this. What happens is 60 Minutes gets sued for billions of dollars because Donald Trump doesn't like the way. He's a sore winner. He doesn't like the way. They edited Kamala Harris's answers to some questions by Bill Whitaker during her interview that Donald Trump avoided 60 Minutes altogether. She went on, she gave an answer is a little bit rambling. They edited it, but then they put the full, as they always do, full interview on another CBS social media property. Who cares? They were going to win that case. They sued him in Texas. They were going to win that case. But they didn't want to win the case. They wanted to write a big check. Like Columbia University is paying $200 million in benefits to Donald Trump and ABC News paid $15 million to Donald Trump. The only ones that are not going to pay, I don't think is the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch and others. But be that as it may, so they need an approval because they are a on air communications company. So the Federal Communications Committee regulates them. By the way, they don't regulate YouTube and they don't regulate independent media like ours. So of course, what would we need? Hit the button for the subscribe buttons, Legal AF and Midas touch. So knowing Donald Trump, knowing that they need a governmental approval that he controls, he squeezes them by the brass ones until they say uncle mixing my metaphors and. And agree not to pay money, but agree to make major changes in the editorial position of 60 minutes. So take the Tiffany Network, so named because CBS started in a building that was, that was inside of Tiffany's in New York. Take the Tiffany network, Edward R. Murrow's pride and joy, Walter Cronkite's and Mike Wallace's 60 Minutes. Take it all and put it in a giant trash bag and put it out on your morning trash day. Because that's it. And if you are a legitimate journalist that's still within what used to be the crown jewel of cbs, its news department, you need to leave. You need to go find another job. You need to talk to Legal AF and the Midas Dutch network is what you need to do. Because the days of your having your own point of view independently from your owners are over. That's what this letter says. That's what this approval means. That's what the firing of Stephen Colbert. Stephen Colbert wasn't fired because of his ratings. He's at the exact same ratings for the last 20 years. He's at the exact same position, number two in late night for like the last 20 years. You know, it's Jimmy Kimmel and him. That's it. He got fired because he had the temerity to take on the Trump administration and go literally tell Donald Trump to go F himself and call out his bosses at CBS and Paramount for cutting a deal for not $16 million as reported, which is the amount. The $16 million, which is the amount that they're gonna pay to, I don't know, the Trump Library, but another 15 or 16 million dollars. Get this on free advertising on where? CBS. If you haven't cut the cord yet on CBS, cut the cord on CBS. You can't watch them and support them. What are you going to do? Watch Trump ads all day long and then news breaks coming in in the middle of your programs, middle of your shows brought to you by the Trump CBS News Network. Why don't they just call it tcbs? That would be easier. Call it tcbs. Yes. Then you're up front, then you're transparent. You know, look, at the end of the day, this is. These are the choices that people are having to make. And you know, I've had to make a lot of choices too. You know, I prepare for Midas Touch and on Legal AF to bring you without smoke or sunshine reports facts, then my commentary on top of that. But as I prepare for Legal AF and my podcast to get to those core facts without bias, you see how hard it is in reporting from mainstream outlets. It's getting more and more difficult. But I use a tool I want you to know about. Especially if you're like me, you're frustrated with biased mainstream news, the one that Brendan Carr just pointed out or sorting through endless sources to just figure out what is actually true. Look, I use ground news and frankly, you should too. It's an app and a website that brings together news stories from around the world. And then shows you the political bias, factual reliability and ownership of each source backed by ratings from three independent news monitoring organizations. So instead of relying on just one outlet, you get the full picture. You can literally compare how the left, right and center are covering the same story all in one place. For example, Ground News tracked over 100 outlets covering how Trump made ICE the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in U.S. history. But right leaning sources, they barely covered it. That kind of imbalanced Ground News makes it visible, and because it's subscriber funded, Ground News avoids the traps of clickbait and sensationalism. I find Ground News essential to see through any double standards in the current media ecosphere. If you go to ground news AF or scan the QR code, we're giving our viewers 40% off ground news as top tier Vantage plan which will get you unlimited access to everything I've shown you and more. Ground News is subscriber funded so they don't rely on ads that could also introduce bias. Subscribing supports our channel and their independent team working to keep the media transparent. Head to ground news, slash AF or scan the QR code to get 40% off the vantage plan which gives you unlimited access for 12 months. Support independent media and get clarity on the news you consume. I'm so glad to be affiliated with Ground News and I'm so glad that you're here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal. I follow me on all things Legal AF here and on the Legal Podcast, Legal AF YouTube channel, Legal AF substack, you name it, I'm on it. So to my next report, I'm Michael Popak. In collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the Legal AF YouTube channel. Help us build this pro democracy channel where I'll be curating the top stories the intersection of law and politics. Go to YouTube now and free subscribe at Legal AFMTN. That's @legal AFMTN.

[Hotels.com Advertiser]

Tipping culture is out of control. Yesterday I tipped someone just for handing me a napkin. So when hotels.com gives me up to 20% off for being a member, I finally get tipped. And you know what? It feels good. Hotels.com members save up to 20% off at hundreds of thousands of hotels, warning.

[Michael Popak]

The following ZipRecruiter radio spot you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words when you're hiring.

[ZipRecruiter Advertiser]

We at ZipRecruiter know you can feel frustrated, forlorn even, like your efforts are futile and you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine. Fortunately, ZipRecruiter figured out how to fix all that and right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com Zip with ZipRecruiter you can forget your frustrations because we find the right people for your roles fast, which is our absolute favorite F word. In fact, four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Fantastic.

[ZipRecruiter Advertiser]

So whether you need to hire four, 40 or 400 people, get ready to meet first rate talent. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com Zip to to try ZipRecruiter for free. Don't forget that ZipRecruiter.com Zip finally that ZipRecruiter.com zip big news.

[Wayfair Advertiser]

Wayfair's biggest sale of the season is here. It's Black Friday in July right now score up to 80% off everything home at Wayfair. Get our lowest prices of the summer for five days only. Plus amazing doorbuster deals and 24 hour surprise flash deal with fast and free shipping site wide. So don't wait. Head to Wayfair.com today to score up to 80% off now through July 28th.

[ZipRecruiter Advertiser]

Wayfair Every Style, every home.