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President Donald Trump endorsed on Saturday nextstar media$6.2 billion acquisition offer for Tegnajust months after criticizing the agreement.
“We need more competition from our enemy, the Fake News National Television Network,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Getting a good deal like Nexstar Tegna to happen would help defeat fake news by increasing competition at a higher and more sophisticated level. Those who are against it don’t fully understand how good the concept of this deal is for them, but it will be in the future. End the deal!”
Under the agreement, Nexstar, which owns or is affiliated with more than 200 stations, will add Tegna’s 64 stations, covering approximately 80% of the country. The deal was announced in August 2025 and was expected to close in the second half of 2026.
President Trump’s endorsement of the Nexstar-Tegna deal marks a sudden change in direction. Trump blasted the Nexstar-Tegna deal and the potential for further industry consolidation in a November post on Truth Social.
“I will not be happy if this allows for the ‘expansion’ of radical leftist networks,” Trump wrote. “ABC and NBC, in particular, are de facto branches of the Democratic Party, and they are the worst. They should be seen as illegal campaigns against the radical left. Fake news networks cannot be allowed to grow. If anything, they should be made smaller!”
Nexstar, Tegna and the White House did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
The proposed partnership between Nexstar and Tegna is part of a series of recent media consolidation efforts as cord-cutting threatens the industry.
“We believe that broadcast news is essential to this country, to a liberal democracy, to independent local news, and that broadcast television is essentially the last bastion of local news at the local level,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sooke told CNBC after the deal was announced.
Currently, the Federal Communications Commission prohibits companies from owning broadcast stations that reach more than 39% of U.S. households to encourage competition. For Nexstar’s deal to go through, the FCC would have to lift its rules.
“We are committed to achieving deregulation and continue to advocate for the removal of outdated restrictions on local television ownership as the best solution to leveling the playing field for all media,” Suk said in a November release seeking approval for the Tegna acquisition.
In September, Nexstar became the first media company to pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after the late night talk show host made comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
