President Trump has been silent about the announcement that Netflix won the bid to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery. That in itself is telling.
Reports now suggest President Trump may be fine with Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, a major shift in what many insiders believed would be the biggest regulatory obstacle to the deal.
Sarandos Meets With Trump, Builds “Friendship”
The New York Post first reported that WBD CEO David Zaslav believes Netflix’s regulatory path has been eased thanks to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos personally meeting with President Trump “in recent weeks.”
According to the report, Sarandos and Trump have developed a “friendship,” and Sarandos used the meetings to argue that:
- The Netflix–WBD deal has no major overlap, meaning minimal job losses.
- Netflix will increase U.S. film production.
- Antitrust concerns are overstated given the competition from social media and short-form platforms.
Bloomberg followed up with its own report stating Sarandos again met with Trump ahead of Netflix’s bid and made a direct pitch for the acquisition.
Sarandos also traveled to Mar-a-Lago back in December 2024, viewed by Hollywood at the time as an attempt to build early rapport with the next administration.
Ellison’s Miscalculation?
If Trump is indeed fine with Netflix buying WBD, it means David Ellison and Skydance may have badly misread the situation.
Ellison’s entire strategy was centered on the assumption that the Trump administration would block a Netflix takeover on antitrust grounds — giving Skydance a path to win the studio, which is reportedly why Ellison came in with low-ball offers.
Instead, Sarandos met with Trump and Netflix won the bidding war, surprising the industry and blindsiding insiders who expected Paramount–Skydance to take it. Maybe David Ellison should read Trump’s Art of the Deal?
The Post adds the Ellisons never expected Sarandos to personally lock down Trump’s support.
A Clearer Regulatory Path for Netflix
If the reporting is accurate and Trump is signaling approval, Netflix’s deal to buy WBD gains its most important green light before regulators even begin formal review.
That could mean fewer roadblocks, faster approval, and a clean path for Netflix to take control of Warner Bros., HBO, DC, and the studio’s entire content machine.
Reports offer that the merger will close within 18–24 months, and Trump’s stance may accelerate that timeline.
If Netflix doesn’t face any major Trump hurtles, the path left for Paramount to acquire Warner Bros Discovery seems to be a hostile takeover by going directly to stock holders and bypassing Zaslav and the WBD board.
The Trump card folds?
Our insiders also said a showdown was building in Hollywood, with hopes Trump would step in as the deciding force and block the Netflix bid. We were told major power players planned to line up behind Trump to back the president against Netflix.
Instead, Trump has stayed quiet — and now reports suggest he actually supports the Netflix deal saying whoever is the highest bidder should win.
What it means for DC
For DC fans, we’ve been reporting that with the sale of WBD, James Gunn is out and the SnyderVerse will return. We were told that was especially the case with Paramount.
Now with Netflix, have things changed? Maybe not.
James Gunn and Peter Safran just did that article with Bloomberg, which suggests their jobs continuing with Netflix are far from guaranteed.
Zack Snyder also just teased “many more stories together” with Henry Cavill as Superman.
