Following Netflix/Warner Deal, President Donald Trump Purchased Bonds

One of the biggest stories in business right now is Netflix, the massive streaming platform, agreeing to acquire Warner Bros.' studios and HBO Max streaming for $72 billion. 

Now, Isabella Simonetti of The Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Donald Trump purchased up to $2 million in Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery bonds. 

More About the Bonds

Per the Journal, a financial disclosure form from the White House showed that President Trump bought between $250,001 and $500,000 worth of Netflix bonds back on Dec. 12 and also on Dec. 16. On the same dates, he also purchased bonds for similar amounts for Discovery Communications LLC, which is a Warner subsidiary. 

The form was dated Jan. 14 and included a list of 191 bond purchase and sale transactions, including municipal bonds and debt for companies such as Victoria's Secret, Boeing, Macy's, CoreWeave, and others. 

The transactions on the form weren't given an exact financial amount, but there was a range of $15,001 to $50,000 and, at the higher end, $1 million to $5 million. It's also unclear whether a firm executed the trades on his behalf. 

The Journal reached out to the White House, Netflix, and Warner for comment, but none of the entities replied. 

Trump's Past Comments on the Acquisition

In December, Trump commented on the potential acquisition, saying it "could be a problem." He also shared an article on Truth Social by John Pierce, an attorney, which was titled "Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover," and was published on One America News. 

Due to the size of the deal, it would require approval from federal regulators and President Trump mentioned that he'd be involved in the decision on Dec. 7, which came days after the deal was announced.

He's also said that CNN should change ownership, but the current deal with Netflix wouldn't include the network. 

Paramount and Netflix Battling

The Netflix deal is set to be all cash, which would be attractive to shareholders, while Paramount, run by David Ellison, has made bids to acquire Warner as a whole, including its networks such as CNN. 

Earlier this month, Warner recommended that shareholders reject Paramount's $78 billion bid for the entire company due to "an extraordinary amount of debt financing."