“I’ll be involved in that decision” - President Donald Trump comments on Netflix acquiring Warner Bros.

Netflix announced on Friday - December 5, 2026 - that it has agreed to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery's film studio, HBO, and streaming service for $72 billion. Once the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal is approved, it will give the former access to decades of titles in the Warner Bros. Pictures archive.

But US President Donald Trump said that the major Hollywood deal "could be a problem" and promised his involvement in its review. He shared his skepticism on the prospects of the deal's approval during an interview as he walked the Kennedy Center Awards red carpet in Washington on Sunday, December 7. 

Trump said that he is consulting with "some economists" before approving the deal. He added: 

"I'll be involved in that decision, too."

Trump didn't share whether he favored the deal's approval or not. He said that it would be for the economists to tell, but he does admit that it involves a "big market share," and that alone could be a problem. 

Donald Trump explained that the skepticism in the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal stems from the fact that Netflix already has "a very big market share." He said that their share will only go up by "a lot" if the deal to acquire Warner Bros. is approved. 

According to NBC, the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal may require approval from the Justice Department's antitrust division and also likely from the European Commission and other governments around the world. 

Donald Trump reportedly met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos to discuss a potential deal

Bloomberg News reported mid-November that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited Donald Trump at the White House to talk about a potential deal. They reportedly talked for more than an hour to discuss various topics, including Netflix's potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. 

Unnamed sources told the news outlet that Trump said that Warner Bros. should sell to the highest bidder and Sarandos reportedly agreed. The Netflix co-CEO reportedly left the discussion with the impression that Netflix wouldn't get immediate opposition from the White House. 

Trump admitted that he met with Sarandos last month during the Sunday interview. He called Sarandos "fantastic," but added that the Netflix co-CEO "made no promises at the meeting." And speaking of promises, the Trump administration approved the billion-dollar Paramount Global and Skydance merger in July after a contentious back-and-forth. 

However, there was also an agreement that Paramount would pay $16 million to Trump's future presidential library because of the CBS News interview with former VP Kamala Harris. Trump alleged that the interview with his former presidential campaign rival was edited. 

Paramount also agreed at the time that it would end its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and would create an ombudsman at CBS news. 

As for the Warner Bros. acquisition, Bloomberg News reported that they rejected Paramount's first bid because it was too low. The initial offer was reportedly $19 per share, which Paramount increased to $22 and then to the final $23.50 on October 13. Comcast Corp. was reportedly another bidder. But for now, Netflix won the deal after offering $27.75 per share and a total value of around $82.7 billion. 

Plenty of well-known titles and franchises from Warner Bros.' century-long legacy will be within reach for Netflix if the deal goes through. That includes The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, The Wizard of Oz, the Harry Potter franchise, and the DC Universe.