President Donald Trump has signaled his disapproval of Netflix’s (NFLX) deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) streaming and studio assets.
Trump reposted on Truth Social an opinion piece from attorney John Pierce titled “Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover,” which was published in One America News last month.
According to Pierce, if Netflix (NFLX) buys Warner Bros.’ (WBD) streaming and studio assets, it will become “the most dominant cultural gatekeeper the United States—and much of the world—has ever seen.”
“The American film industry, long defined by competition and creativity, would contract into a single, politically driven super-entity,” Pierce warned. “That is not capitalism. That is cultural central planning.”
“The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission should treat this merger as a top-tier antitrust priority—not only for its market implications, but for what it means for free expression and America’s cultural pluralism,” he added. “Netflix should compete, not conquer.”
While Warner Bros.’ (WBD) board approved Netflix’s (NFLX) $83B offer, it rebuffed Paramount Skydance’s (PSKY) $108B hostile bid. Paramount’s CEO David Ellison, as well as his father Larry, are Trump allies.
“Regulators must now confront an uncomfortable possibility: that WBD’s board rejected a financially superior offer because Netflix was the woker, ideologically preferred buyer,” Pierce noted.
Trump last month said the Netflix-WBD deal “could be a problem,” saying Netflix (NFLX) has “a very big market share… and when they have Warner Bros., that share goes up a lot.”