Donald Trump purchased at least $1 million in bonds from Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shortly after stating he would be involved in the companies' proposed merger, according to a financial disclosure form released by the White House on Friday.
The purchases, made on 12 and 16 December, came just over a week after Netflix agreed to acquire WBD in an $82.7bn deal. Trump told reporters on 7 December: “They have a very big market share. When they have Warner Bros, that share goes up a lot. So, I don’t know. That’s going to be for some economists to tell and also – and I’ll be involved in that decision too.”
The disclosure also revealed that Trump made two purchases from each company, each worth at least $502,000. The deal has faced criticism from US politicians and the Writers Guild of America, with Senator Elizabeth Warren calling it “an anti-monopoly nightmare”. Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance launched a $108.4bn hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros, backed by CEO David Ellison and his father Larry Ellison, both allies of the Trump administration.
In total, Trump bought about $100m in municipal and corporate bonds from mid-November to late December, building on earlier investments in Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. An unnamed administration official told the Washington Post that the portfolio is independently managed, and Trump has no ability to influence investment decisions.
