Trump says Netflix-Warner merger could be competition 'problem'

(Sharecast News) - US President Donald Trump has weighed into Netflix's planned $83bn deal to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, saying the merged group's combined size "could be a problem". The two entertainment giants struck a deal on Friday, but industry figures have already started voicing concerns about the potential dominance of the new entity. Competition authorities still have to approve the takeover.

Speaking at an event at the John F Kennedy Center in Washington, Trump said Netflix has a "very big market share" which would "go up by a lot" if the deal proceeded.

He also warned he would be personally involved in the decision on whether or not to approve the deal.

The Writers Guild of America's East and West branches called for the merger to be blocked, saying the "world's largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent."

"The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers," it said on Friday.

Netflix will acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO, with franchises including Harry Potter, Batman and Superman, Game of Thrones, The White Lotus and Succession.

The transaction is expected to close after the previously announced separation of WBD's Global Networks division, Discovery Global, into a new publicly-traded company, which is now expected to be completed in Q3 2026.

"Much attention has been given to Trump's friendship with Larry Ellison, whose son David had previously spearheaded a deal for Paramount Skydance to buy Warner Bros, which was unsuccessful. There is a lot of talk that Trump seemed to support such a deal at the time, so the president opposing the Netflix acquisition would be double standards," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at financial services platform AJ Bell.

"Fundamentally, Trump wants to bring some pizzazz back to Hollywood. He wants to resurrect the glitz and glamour of the US film industry, whose star has faded as more productions are made overseas thanks to tax incentives and cheaper costs."

"Netflix will be under pressure to do as much as possible on home soil, so any commitment to do a certain amount of production in the US could help to win Trump over."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com