WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump has suggested that a deal struck by 鈥渃ould be a problem鈥� because of the size of the combined market share.
鈥淭here’s no question about it,鈥� Trump said Sunday, answering questions about the deal and various other topics as he walked the red carpet at the .
But asked again during a White House event with farmers a day later, Trump said he 鈥渄idn’t know anything about the deal.”
鈥淚 know the companies very well, I know what they鈥檙e doing,” Trump said, while also adding that he had to “see what percentage of market they have.鈥�
The president also said, 鈥淣one of them are particularly great friends of mine,” but added, 鈥淚 want to do what鈥檚 right.鈥�
His second round of comments came after Paramount launched a for Warner Bros. Discovery, backed by a group of investors that includes an equity firm founded by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump said he had not spoken to Kushner about the matter, and suggested instead that his son-in-law is 鈥渢rying to work on Gaza,鈥� a reference to Kushner’s work to promote a to halt fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Republican president has said he will be involved in the decision about whether the federal government should approve the $72 billion Netflix-Warner deal. If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the world鈥檚 biggest streaming services under the same ownership and join Warner鈥檚 television and motion picture division, including , with Netflix鈥檚 vast library and its production arm.
The deal, which could reshape the entertainment industry, has to 鈥済o through a process and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said Sunday night.
In his first comments at the Kennedy Center, Trump was more effusive in his praise of Netflix, calling it 鈥渁 great company.鈥�
“They鈥檝e done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man,鈥� he said of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, noting that they met in the Oval Office last week before the deal was announced Dec. 5. “I have a lot of respect for him but it鈥檚 a lot of market share, so we鈥檒l have to see what happens.鈥�
Asked Sunday if Netflix should be allowed to buy the Hollywood giant behind 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� and HBO Max, said, 鈥淲ell that’s the question.鈥�
鈥淭hey have a very big market share and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot so, I don鈥檛 know,鈥� he said. “I’ll be involved in that decision, too. But they have a very big market share.鈥�
Sarandos made no guarantees at their meeting about the merger if it is approved, Trump said, adding that the CEO is a 鈥済reat person鈥� who has 鈥渄one one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things.鈥�
He repeated that a merger would create a 鈥渂ig market share鈥� for the company.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no question about it. It could be a problem,鈥� Trump said.
___
Associated Press writer John Carucci contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
