On CNN, Trump Said He Wants the Network on a “Normal Path.” Tapper Let It Pass.
President Donald Trump used a live phone appearance on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday to say something few sitting presidents put so bluntly on air: his administration is trying to change the network’s direction.
“We’re trying to have CNN go on a normal path, and we’ll do that,” Trump told Jake Tapper.
The call was meant as a tribute after Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death. Trump praised Graham as a “fantastic advocate,” recalled speaking with him the night before he died, and highlighted Graham’s defense of Brett Kavanaugh as one of the Senate’s great moments. When Tapper tried to turn to U.S. strikes on Iran and the status of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump shut it down. “Don’t talk about it. Talk about the reason that you asked me to speak,” he said, citing “respect for Lindsey.”
Tapper did not press. He accepted the limits, invited Trump back, and closed with thanks. “Well, I’m on a normal path right here, sir, and I appreciate your time. And thank you for calling in,” he said. “We would love to have you back sometime.” Trump answered, “Good. You are.”
Critics heard more than banter. Viewers called Tapper an enabler. One argued it is not a president’s job “to direct the ‘path’ any news organization follows,” and that if CNN accepts that premise it might as well “officially merge with Fox.” Another put it more simply: the president was “admitting they are trying to control the media.”
The timing sharpened the reaction. In June the Justice Department cleared Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent. The deal still faces other hurdles, but it leaves the network under new ownership that must navigate an administration openly hostile to CNN’s past coverage. Trump has long accused the network of left-leaning bias. A remark about putting it on a “normal path,” made while that merger hangs in the air, was easy to read as leverage, not a slip.
Tapper has said CNN’s job “is not to try and please the president or only report the statements he likes.” On Sunday, many viewers thought they saw the opposite: a host thanking a president who set the terms, skipped the hard questions, and announced an effort to reshape the network itself. A free press answers to the public. That standard is harder to defend when the interview ends with gratitude instead of a challenge.
