Netflix CEO to Visit White House as Republican AGs Turn Against Him
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos will go to the White House Thursday as he looks to push through a merger that even Republicans say presents antitrust concerns.
The proposed deal would see Netflix acquire Warner Bros. Discovery at the cost of $70 billion. Though it’s not clear if Sarandos will be meeting directly with President Donald Trump, he will try to curry favor with his administration, whose Department of Justice has the final say as to whether the merger goes through.
Trump previously said he wouldn’t get involved with the deal, but eventually couldn’t resist trying to leverage his power for political gain. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, he called on Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice, a former Democratic policy adviser.
“Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences,” Trump wrote.
Trump’s request was later rejected by Sarandos.
In the meantime, eleven Republican attorneys general have asked the DOJ to block the deal.
The group penned a letter to the DOJ on Wednesday arguing that a Netflix–Warner Bros. merger would give Netflix too much power over their streaming rivals, creating a monopoly that could lead to higher prices and reduced quality.
Adding to the mess is the fact that the chief of the DOJ’s antitrust division, Gail Slater, stepped down recently after feuding with Trump officials. The acting chief is Omeed Assefi, who was previously a criminal prosecutor in the division.
Sarandos tried to downplay the discord in remarks to the BBC. “This is a business deal. It’s not a political deal,” he said.