When Media Mergers Meet Presidential Politics

The battle for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) just got more interesting. Netflix Inc. (NFLX) is currently the winning bidder to acquire the film and television studio and streaming assets, but President Donald Trump just threw a wrench into the works over the weekend. His weapon of choice? A Truth Social post accusing Netflix of launching a "cultural takeover."

Trump shared an opinion piece from December written by John Pierce for One America News with the message "Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover." If you're wondering who Pierce is, he's a lawyer who defended several Trump supporters involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to Deadline. So this isn't exactly a neutral observer weighing in on merger policy.

Here's where it gets interesting. Pierce's argument isn't your typical antitrust concern about market concentration or consumer harm. Instead, he argues the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission should block the deal because Netflix would become the dominant cultural gatekeeper with too much ideological control, able to spread "progressive narratives" to a larger audience.

"It is time to say no to a woke media monopoly before the damage becomes impossible to reverse," Pierce wrote.

By sharing this piece, Trump is essentially telegraphing his position. And given that merger approval often requires navigating federal regulators, this isn't great news for Netflix.

The Paramount Skydance Connection

Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has been playing spoiler, submitting additional offers for the entire company, including cable and television assets. Warner Bros. Discovery hasn't been swayed by these bids, even though billionaire Larry Ellison is personally guaranteeing financing. But here's the thing: Ellison happens to be a close ally of Trump.

In fact, ahead of the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding process, a Trump administration official made some remarkably unsubtle comments suggesting that media companies outside of Paramount shouldn't even bother bidding.

"The Warner board needs to think very seriously not just on the price competition, but which player in the suitor pool has been successful getting a deal done," the official said.

And in case anyone missed the hint, the official spelled it out: "And that points to the Ellisons."

The message was clear: getting a deal approved might be considerably harder for anyone "outside of Paramount Skydance." So much for a level playing field.

Bipartisan Opposition, Different Reasons

Here's where things get really messy. Democrats in Congress also oppose the Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, but for completely different reasons. They're worried about traditional antitrust issues like market concentration and corporate power, not whether the combined company would produce too many "woke" shows.

But Democrats aren't exactly cheering for Paramount Skydance either. The company paid a $16 million settlement with Trump ahead of its merger with Skydance. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) accused the settlement of being a bribe and has spoken out against both Netflix and Paramount acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery.

The hiring of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief at CBS News has fueled accusations that Paramount has shifted its political leanings to favor Trump. And Trump's own comments about the approval process, plus his claim that CNN is a "disgrace" that should be sold, have raised concerns about presidential influence on the merger.

So here's the irony: Pierce argues that a Netflix acquisition would lead to more "woke" content, while the counterargument is that a Paramount Skydance win could lead to more pro-Trump content. Either way, someone's going to complain about ideological bias.

Warner Bros. Discovery might want to reconsider its options. When the president is posting against your preferred buyer on social media, that's usually not a great sign for regulatory approval. The question now is whether this is just Trump being Trump on social media, or whether it signals real trouble ahead for the Netflix deal.