David Ellison said all the right things to CNN this week.

Sitting across from Anderson Cooper at a town hall on Tuesday, hours after Skydance’s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed, CNN’s new owner was asked a question hanging over the network. “Do you stand with CNN and our effort to completely restore access to covering President Trump?” Cooper asked, a reference to the First Amendment lawsuit CNN filed alongside MS NOW and POLITICO after the administration banished the three outlets from the White House.

“Of course,” Ellison replied.

The 43-year-old mogul told staffers he believes “deeply in journalism,” called CNN and CBS News “a vital part of our democracy,” and pledged not to interfere in the network’s coverage. But saying “of course” in a room full of anxious CNN employees is the easy part. In reality, Ellison’s ownership of the news network that Trump has relentlessly attacked and attempted to sideline puts him on a collision course with the transactional and vindictive president who shows no sign of letting up on the Mark Thompson-led outlet and its coverage of the embattled administration.

While Ellison has publicly backed CNN’s fight to restore its White House access and promised editorial independence, Trump’s animosity toward CNN isn’t going to suddenly vanish because the network has a new owner, even if it is the son of his billionaire pal Larry Ellison. If anything, the administration appears to expect the opposite. Trump declared in December that “it’s imperative that CNN be sold” while trashing the network’s coverage. Pete Hegseth was even more overt this spring, telling reporters, “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.” Clearly, the administration is expecting a more pliant CNN.

And Ellison has given them reason to believe that. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that he assured administration officials he’d make “sweeping changes to CNN” if he won the company, and Ellison himself acknowledged having “great conversations with the president” about the network. When I asked him about his conversations with Trump this week, Ellison replied: “We have not talked to any political leader of any party about news, other than say that we want to be in the truth business, and we want to be in the trust business. And we believe in complete editorial independence.”

A Skydance spokesperson declined to comment for this piece.

But Ellison’s actions in recent months haven’t been encouraging. When the White House defied a court order to keep CNN and MS NOW reporters away from its state dinner for Xi Jinping, Ellison was in attendance, a guest at the very event his soon-to-be network was blocked from covering. He also graciously hosted and streamed a UFC fight on the White House lawn for Trump’s birthday, and a dinner this spring “honoring the Trump White House.”

So the question isn’t whether Ellison will say the right things. He’s shown he can do that. But will he show a backbone when those two interests inevitably collide? The White House is already attempt to skirt a judge’s order to restore CNN’s access, with communications director Steven Cheung drawing a distinction between letting the banned outlets onto the grounds and letting them onto Air Force One. That’s a fight CNN will have to continue waging under an owner who now controls two of the five networks in the White House television pool and Trump believes is ultimately on his side.

“It’s going to be a great company,” Trump told reporters hours after the merger closed Tuesday, saying he was “happy” about it. “They’re terrific people, and it’s going to be a great company.”

But will those “terrific people” play ball? If not, there’s plenty for Trump to hold over Ellison and his father, between their new media juggernaut and Oracle, whose federal contracts and role in TikTok’s U.S. operations leave the family exposed to an administration has used its power to punish companies it views as hostile. Meanwhile, CBS’ broadcast licenses still answer to Brendan Carr’s FCC, which has repeatedly threatened networks over coverage the president dislikes.

When Ellison acquired CBS last year, he made similar pledges of independence, then installed the anti-“woke” Bari Weiss atop the news division, leading to a string of firings, credible accusations of bias from leadership, historic ratings struggles, and Cooper’s own exit from “60 Minutes.” Not exactly a track record that inspires confidence in what’s to come at CNN.

Nevertheless, Ellison will soon face a real test of whether he will stand up to Trump. Perhaps it will arrive as CNN’s lawsuit grinds on and the White House keeps finding new ways to shut its reporters out. Or when Trump calls to complain about a Kaitlan Collins segment. Or when Carr decides to take issue with CBS’ broadcast licenses. Sooner or later, Trump will force the issue, and Ellison will have to choose between backing his network or falling in line.