Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration stepped up its attacks on CNN, whose future lies at the center of a highly politicized bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Echoing the president's frequent anti-media barbs, senior members of his administration lashed out Thursday.

"CNN = Chicken News Network," White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X Thursday, calling CNN cowardly for not inviting Trump's extremist advisor Stephen Miller to be interviewed "presumably because they are scared Stephen will school them."

Vice President JD Vance then shared the post, adding: "If CNN wants to be a real news network it should feature important voices from our administration."

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A CNN spokesperson said Miller would be welcome back on the channel, Fox News reported Thursday.

"As a news organization, we make editorial decisions about the stories we cover and when, and that depends on the news priorities of the day. We look forward to having Stephen on again in the future as the news warrants," the CNN spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The harshest attack on CNN from the Trump administration came from an official White House account called Rapid Response 47, which went after Kaitlan Collins, one of the network's most prominent correspondents, saying she "is not a journalist. She is a mouthpiece for the Democrat Party."

On Wednesday, the president confronted another CNN journalist similarly, and said "you know you work for the Democrats, don't you? You are basically an arm of the Democrat Party."

CNN is currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the object of a bidding war between streaming giant Netflix and Paramount Skydance, the latter of which is led by CEO David Ellison, son of Trump ally Larry Ellison.

The president's son-in-law Jared Kushner has joined Paramount's bid through his investment firm.

And Trump has already indicated he intends to get involved in the government's decision to approve or block a sale, which would typically involve the Justice Department.

While Paramount's offer also covers CNN, the Netflix deal would see Warner Bros. Discovery sell off CNN and other cable news properties separately before closing the sale of its studio and streaming operations.

Trump said Wednesday he wants to ensure CNN gets new ownership as part of the Warner Bros. Discovery sale, seeming to favor a Paramount purchase.