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Netflix Bid for Warner Bros Just Got a Boost: Trump Criticizes Paramount, CBS for Greene Interview (Bloomberg)
Trump on Monday criticized CBS’s 60 Minutes following an interview the program had with US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. He said CBS parent Paramount is “no better than the old ownership.”
On Sunday, when asked about the Netflix deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, Trump said it will “go through a process” and that “it is a big market share. It could be a problem.”
If Warner Bros. breaks its current agreement it will be required to pay Netflix a $2.8 billion fee, an expense typically borne by the new acquirer. Netflix has agreed to pay $5.8 billion to Warner Bros. if the deal falls through on its end or doesn’t win regulatory approval.
Netflix co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos has personally courted President Donald Trump, meeting him at the White House last month and last year at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. He has argued Netflix competes with services like YouTube and ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok, as well as with Hollywood.
Paramount Chief Executive Officer David Ellison has touted his family’s good relations with the president, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is participating in the Paramount offer through his Affinity Partners.
More Federal Power: Trump Says He’ll Sign Executive Order Curbing State AI Rules (Bloomberg)
More Presidential Power: Supreme Court Signals It Backs Trump on Firing Agency Heads (Bloomberg)
The US Supreme Court signaled it’s poised to give the president control over potentially dozens of traditionally independent federal agencies as the court’s dominant conservative wing cast doubt on a 90-year-old precedent.
Hearing arguments in Washington Monday, the justices suggested they will let President Trump permanently remove Rebecca Kelly Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission despite a law that says commissioners can be fired only for specified reasons. Slaughter’s ouster would leave the consumer-protection agency without any Democratic commissioners.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Trump Pardons Major Drug Traffickers Despite his Anti-Drug Rhetoric (Washington Post)
The president has granted clemency to about 100 people accused of drug-related crimes during his time in office, a Washington Post analysis shows.
In Case You Missed It: Global Leaders Pledge $1.9 Billion in Abu Dhabi to End Polio and Protect Children Worldwide (Global Polio Eradication Initiative)
International leaders, philanthropists, and global health partners announced in Abu Dhabi a collective US$ 1.9 billion to advance polio eradication. The funds will accelerate vital efforts to reach 370 million children each year with polio vaccines, alongside strengthening health systems in affected countries to protect children from other preventable diseases.
Pledges were made from a diverse group of donors and countries, including: $1.2 billion from the Gates Foundation; $140 million from the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation; $450 million from Rotary International; $100 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies; $154 million from Pakistan and $62 million from Germany; $46 million from the United States of America; $6 million from Japan; $4 million from the Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA); and $3 million from Luxembourg.
AI Dominance: China’s Open-Source AI is a National Advantage (Financial Times)
Today the 10 top-ranked open-source AI models are almost all Chinese. The dominance is now so pronounced that US companies risk ceding open-source AI to China completely. The models are akin to studying together to ace a test instead of relying on individual knowledge.
Open-source AI also gives users the ability to customize models — fine tuning them for use in a specific industry, for example. The models can also be run on a customer’s internal servers, which means corporate users don’t have to send their data to AI companies. And free, open-source models make state-of-the-art AI affordable for researchers, students, hobbyists and entrepreneurs.
Today in Trade: China’s Trade Surplus Tops $1 Trillion For First Time After Exports Rebound (Bloomberg)
While shipments to the US plummeted 29% in November — the eighth month of double-digit declines and the biggest since August — strong growth in sales to regions like the European Union and Africa more than offset the slump.
Inflation Nation: Your Holiday Gift Contains a Lump of Tariffs (Bloomberg Opinion - Matt Winkler)
President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick say the tariffs imposed on imports to the US aren't a tax on American consumers, despite economists saying the opposite.
The nonprofit Tax Foundation figures the duties equate to an average tax increase of $1,000 per household this year, rising to $1,400 in 2026. The OECD has reduced its prediction for US economic growth due to Trump's policies, and economists such as Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman say the tariffs have inflicted lasting damage on the US economy and the global economic order.
🎙️ Now Streaming! Catch the latest Daily Read Podcast — your AI-powered briefing on today’s top stories. Listen on Spotify and
Apple Podcasts.
Entertainment News: Jimmy Kimmel Extends Deal With Disney’s ABC for at Least a Year (Bloomberg)
A 'First-Rate PAC NYC Revival': A Christmas Carol, Rings the Bell Downtown (New York Stage Review)
This enjoyable family event is a restaged version of an Old Vic dramatization of Charles Dickens’ 1843 tale that played Broadway during the 2019-2020 season. This production is staged upon a raised, cruciform-shaped central platform that situates the crisscrossing actors in relatively close proximity to many viewers while scores of lanterns flicker overhead.
The first-rate PAC NYC revival retains the supernatural effects of the earlier production .... The radiant dramatic lighting is created by Hugh Vanstone, who lit the Old Vic original in association with production designer Rob Howell, whose crisp Victorian clothes move well amid the polkas and other swift passages credited to Lizzi Gee. Let’s note the invaluable contributions of Simon Baker, the sound designer, who keeps voices clear when not shading them with spooky echoes and reverberations.
Declared one of the "15 Shows to Spice Up Your Festive Season"
by the New York Times, be sure to take your family, friends or colleagues to this immersive production that wraps the audience around the action, inviting the communal holiday spirit in everyone.
It runs through Jan. 4, so get your tickets here (and also join PAC NYC as a member for more benefits year-round).
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