Trump casts doubt on Netflix-Warner Merger citing it ‘could be a problem'

President Donald Trump has cast doubt on Netflix’s recent acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, stating the combined entity’s market share “could be a problem.”

The comment on the deal was made on Sunday, December 7, immediately rattling markets and political circles, as the deal unites the streaming giant with one of the biggest Hollywood studios and its HBO Max platform.

Prediction market Polymarket saw the probability of the deal closing by end-2025 plummet from around 60% to 23% following Trump’s remarks.

“It is a big market share. It could be a problem,” said Trump, confirming a recent White House meeting with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who has been lobbying for the transaction.

The President cited that Netflix has “a very big market share, and when they Warner Bros, you know, that share goes up a lot.”

The deal is poised for a rigorous antitrust review by the U.S. Justice Department, which could argue the merger would give Netflix control exceeding a critical 30% market share threshold in the streaming sector.

In contrast, Netflix will expectedly counter that the relevant market should include broader digital video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. This will significantly dilute its perceived dominance.

The political landscape for the merger is complicated.

Warner Bros, jilted Paramount Skydance, a company having strong ties to Trump and backed by his ally, billionaire Larry Ellison, to accept Netflix’s offer.

This deal has also drawn criticism from bipartisan lawmakers concerned about consumer choice and market concentration.