AT&T and Time Warner are under pressure from the Justice Department to offload CNN to win the Trump administration's approval of their $85 billion merger, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

DOJ presented the companies with an ultimatum at a meeting Monday: Sell off Time Warner-owned Turner Broadcasting, which includes CNN as well as networks like TBS and TNT, or jettison DirecTV, which AT&T acquired two years ago, one source said — adding that it's clear the real sticking point for the government is CNN, a frequent target of President Donald Trump's anger.

"The only reason you would divest CNN would be to kowtow to the president because he doesn't like the coverage," the source said. "It would send a chilling message to every news organization in the country."

Justice Department officials later said that the companies themselves offered to sell CNN but that DOJ's antitrust division rejected that option. DOJ told the companies that divesting CNN wouldn't necessarily solve the harm to the public caused by the mega-merger, the officials said.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson pushed back against that narrative.

"Throughout this process, I have never offered to sell CNN and have no intention of doing so," he said in a statement.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/08/att-time-warner-dump-cnn-244697