Donald Trump purchased at least $1m worth of bonds in Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) just days after stating he would “be involved” in the proposed merger between the two companies, according to a financial disclosure form released by the White House on Friday.
The disclosure shows Trump made two purchases from Netflix and two from WBD on 12 and 16 December, each exceeding $502,000. The transactions occurred shortly after Netflix agreed to acquire WBD in an $82.7bn deal, which is subject to regulatory clearance.
On 7 December, Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center: “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 deal has drawn criticism from US politicians and unions. Senator Elizabeth Warren called it “an anti-monopoly nightmare”, while the Writers Guild of America warned it would “eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content”.
Trump also bought about $100m in municipal and corporate bonds from mid-November to late December, adding to over $100m in bonds purchased earlier in his second term, including in Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. An unnamed administration official told the Washington Post that Trump’s portfolio is independently managed and that neither he nor his family can influence investment decisions.
