President Donald Trump has commented on the landmark $72 billion deal between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery. Speaking at the Kennedy Center Awards in Washington, D.C., Trump suggested the merger “could be a problem” due to significant market share concerns.
“Well, that’s got to go through a process, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters. He specifically noted Netflix’s existing dominance, stating, “They have a very big market share; when they have Warner Bros. That share goes up a lot.”
Netflix, the world’s leading streaming service with over 300 million subscribers, announced the agreement on December 5, 2025. The deal aims to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s TV/film studio and its HBO streaming division.
This acquisition would give Netflix control of one of Hollywood’s most storied libraries and assets. It would also consolidate the top streaming service with a major competitor, HBO Max.
President Trump says he would be involved in the decision on Netflix’s $72 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, noting the deal would increase market share and could pose a problem https://t.co/bIqw9EK4hu pic.twitter.com/9lCAmXpFIZ
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 8, 2025President Trump’s remarks signal potential high-level political scrutiny. The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division could challenge the merger, alleging it violates competition law by creating excessive market control.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has already urged regulators to block the deal. In a December 5 statement, the union called the merger “what antitrust laws were designed to prevent.”
The guild warned of severe consequences, including job losses, lower wages, poorer working conditions, higher consumer prices, and reduced content diversity.
Read: Netflix Submits “Mostly Cash” Bid to Acquire Warner Bros
The deal faces a lengthy regulatory review process. The companies anticipate it will close only after Warner Bros. divides its business in the second half of 2026.
President Trump’s intervention, suggesting economists should weigh in, adds a significant layer of uncertainty. His focus on the combined entity’s “big market share” directly echoes core antitrust principles used to evaluate such mega-mergers.
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