Nexstar-Tegna deal on ice after judge issues temporary restraining order

President Donald Trump has previously voiced his support for the now-stalled merger.

The Tegna Inc. headquarters on March 20, 2026 in Mclean, Virginia. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

A judge late on Friday temporarily paused a planned merger between media companies Nexstar and Tegna, throwing a wrench into plans blessed by President Donald Trump to establish the country’s largest television company.

In his 14-day temporary restraining order, U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley, an Obama appointee, sided with DirecTV, which claimed in a lawsuit filed last week that Nexstar’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna is an endeavor to “drive up the price it can extract from DIRECTV and other distributors,” enact mass layoffs and reduce competition.

“Here, the Court agrees with Plaintiff that Defendants’ integration efforts are exactly those that would make it more difficult to divest TEGNA stations, eliminate competition, and result in newsroom layoffs and shutdowns,” Nunley wrote in his Friday ruling.

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