More evidence adding to the annals of Everything Trump Touches Dies (or at least loses in court and/or money).
Reflecting pool "vandalism" cases
Federal prosecutors dropped the last of their cases against people charged with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in DC had filed charges of vandalism in connection with damage to the iconic DC pond against David Hearn, Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Cameron Thiers. President Donald Trump had previously described the supposed pool-damaging culprits as "SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE."
The office for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, however, decided to drop the cases against all four people after concluding that contractors, not vandals, were to blame for the pool’s deteriorated state. Court records obtained by USA TODAY show that prosecutors filed paperwork to drop all of the cases on July 31...
Trumper Ellison's Paramount/Warner Brothers merger
... Time is not Paramount’s ally. Beginning September 30, the company owes Warner shareholders a $650 million ticking fee every quarter thereafter. That comes out of a firm with a free cash flow line of $96 million last quarter and $123 million the quarter before, meaning that since the combination of Paramount of Skydance in August 2025, the merged firm has barely recorded $650 million in free cash flow in total, but now has to pay that every quarter until this trial is resolved.
Facing a restraining order and an injunction fight it could lose, Paramount stipulated in federal court that the merger will not close until five days after a trial ruling or June 1, 2027, whichever comes first, a concession that handed the states the pause they had sought and left only the trial date in dispute.
The April 2027 trial that the attorneys general and the guild seek implies several such quarters before opening statements, and even Paramount’s proposed November date concedes at least one. Walking away is hardly cheaper. Paramount faces a $7 billion breakup fee on top of the $2.8 billion already paid to Netflix—$9.8 billion for the privilege of losing.
Making matters worse, the family balance sheet backstopping the bid looks less imposing than it once did. Oracle’s credit-default swaps have hit their highest levels since 2008, free cash flow is expected to stay negative into 2027 as data-center paybacks arrive slowly, and AI-era fortunes rest on the sort of circular financing many have cautioned about. The Middle Eastern sovereign funds contributing more than half the deal’s equity sit in more precarious positions still, with war on their doorstep.
The trial’s outcome will echo beyond fees and headcounts.What hangs in the balance is an American industry’s shape and a precedent that will be established not just by courts alone but by the influence of presidential power.
A combined Paramount-Warner would unite two of America’s most consequential newsrooms, CBS News and CNN, under a single politically entangled owner. And Paramount’s early stewardship of the first has provided little comfort to the public about the future of the second. The company paid to settle President Trump’s complaint over an innocuous 60 Minutes interview, a payment critics called extortion by another name, and then watched the president of CBS News and the longtime executive producer of 60 Minutes resign in protest. Stephen Colbert’s award-winning Late Show was canceled in a move that many have labeled political appeasement, and the flagship evening newscast baselessly recast the January 6 insurrection as a partisan squabble.
UFC owners lost $30m (£22m) staging the Freedom 250 event, which was attended by US President Donald Trump, at the White House in June.
Despite the one-off event's losses, which UFC expected, the organisation still saw an increase of revenue for the second quarter of 2026, parent company TKO Group Holdings said on Monday.
An estimated 4,300 people including president Trump and Vice-President JD Vance were present for the invite-only event on the South Lawn of the presidential compound, which formed part of celebrations to mark 250 years of American independence.
Tickets were not sold to the general public for the event, and initial costs were predicted to be more than $60m (£44m).
However, UFC was able to recoup some money through sponsorships, media exposure and other partnerships.
The schadenfreude, it is sweet.
No comments:
Post a Comment