Donald Trump might benefit from the Netflix acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Shortly after the two entertainment giants announced the merger deal, the President made debt investments in both companies.
The White House has released a financial disclosure form that reveals that Trump has bought around $2 million in bonds for Netflix and WBD.
On December 12 and December 16, 2025, the POTUS purchased between $250,001 and $500,000 worth of Netflix bonds twice, and made similar investments in WBD’s subsidiary, Discovery Communications.
Trump buys Netflix and WB Discovery bonds post deal. #Bonds Donald Trump Bought at Least $1 Million in Bonds in Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery Following Their Deal Announcement
— Screen Sourced (@screensourced) January 17, 2026
The acquisition deal was officially announced on December 5, which means Trump took a week’s time before making the purchase. The White House has stated that the President’s investments are handled by a third party and he does not provide any input on the sale or purchase of bonds.
However, the timing of the investment has still raised eyebrows as social media users are calling it an incident of insider trading. One person wrote, “@POTUS is openly Insider Trading, using @DOJ as a retaliation arm, and is in the Epstein files. When Congress flips… it’s gonna be drama.”
Another commented, “Well that answers the question if the WB to Netflix deal is getting approved by regulators.” One also questioned, “Isn’t this insider trading? Why isn’t the Securities Commission charging this crook? Oh, nevermind, we all know why but let me do this…not that I have $1M anyway.”
Isn’t this insider trading? Why isn’t the Securities Commission charging this crook? Oh, nevermind, we all know why but let me do this…not that I have $1M anyway.https://t.co/uhYlXpSGWi
— Rhonda Fomby (@Rhontie) January 16, 2026
Apart from the two entertainment companies, the President has bought bonds of Occidental Petroleum, Whirlpool, SiriusXM, Boeing, and General Motors. Between mid-November and late December, he has invested $100 million in municipal and corporate bonds.
Trump has previously expressed his apprehensions about the Netflix-WBD deal, citing that it could pose a problem because the two platforms have a massive share in the streaming market. Netflix is set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a $72 billion deal.
This will give the streaming platform access to the WB film studio, along with HBO and HBO Max. However, cable networks under WBD, like CNN, are not covered in the deal and will be transferred to Discovery Global, a separate publicly traded company.
The deal has to be approved by federal regulators owing to its gigantic value. Following the merger announcement, Trump addressed the matter during an interaction with the press on December 7, 2025.
The President said at the time that he would be involved in the decision-making process and added, “Well, that’s got to go through a process, and we’ll see what happens. They have a very big market share. When they have Warner Bros., that share goes up a lot.”
The President earlier met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in November 2025 to discuss the terms and consequences of the merger. Netflix is currently the most-subscribed streaming service in the world, with more than 300 million users.
The platform is home to acclaimed shows like Stranger Things, Squid Game, Money Heist, and Bridgerton. On the other hand, WBD is the owner of DC Studios and has produced globally popular shows like Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, The White Lotus, and The Wire.
