The proposed deal would combine Netflix, the world’s largest streaming platform, with Warner Bros. Discovery.

The proposed deal would combine Netflix, the world’s largest streaming platform, with Warner Bros. Discovery.

President Donald Trump is urging federal regulators to stop Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, warning that the deal would concentrate unprecedented cultural power in a single corporation.

In a post on Truth Social this week, Trump called on authorities to “STOP THE NETFLIX MERGER WITH WB,” linking to an op-ed outlining concerns that the transaction would reshape the American entertainment industry and weaken competition.

The proposed deal would combine Netflix, the world’s largest streaming platform, with Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns major franchises including HBO, DC Comics, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones, as well as one of the largest film and television libraries in the industry.

According to the op-ed shared by Trump, the merger would make Netflix not only the dominant streaming service but the most powerful cultural gatekeeper in the US, with outsized influence over which stories, ideas, and narratives reach mass audiences.

The article also questioned Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to favor Netflix despite a competing all-cash offer from Paramount Skydance, reportedly valued at $30 per share. That bid, the op-ed argues, would represent a higher return for shareholders than Netflix’s proposal.

Concerns about the transaction have reached Capitol Hill. On The Matt Gaetz Show, Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested that rejecting a higher offer in favor of Netflix could raise fiduciary duty issues if ideology, rather than shareholder value, influenced the decision.

The op-ed warns that absorbing Warner’s assets would reduce competition across streaming, theatrical distribution, and content production. It argues that fewer major studios would limit opportunities for filmmakers, weaken theaters already struggling post-pandemic, and give Netflix greater leverage over pricing, labor negotiations, and release windows.