Just hours before Paramount Skydance Corp. Chief Executive Officer David Ellison launched a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., he hobnobbed in Washington with some of the federal government’s heaviest hitters.

At the Kennedy Center Honors Sunday night, Ellison chatted with President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the events. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and his wife sat with Ellison in his box, next to Paramount board member Justin Hamill and CBS CEO George Cheeks, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential matter.

If Paramount prevails in its $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros., it wouldn’t need approval from the FCC or Congress, but the contact reflects a broad-based Washington campaign to shore up

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