President Trump sent a strong signal that he has a problem with Netflix’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, expressing a desire to “stop the Netflix cultural takeover.” His remarks have thrown the sale of the media giant, which owns CNN, which Mr. Trump despises, into further chaos. 

Netflix made a deal to acquire WBD, which owns CNN, for $83 billion. The deal, which would require regulatory approval from the Trump Administration, would combine a storied Hollywood studio with the streaming behemoth and has led Democrats to raise concerns about the consolidation of the two media companies. 

The deal is far from done. Paramount Global, which is controlled by the centibillionaire Ellison family, is making an aggressive play for WBD and today said it would start a fight over the composition of WBD’s board. Larry Ellison, the world’s fourth richest man, has a good relationship with Mr. Trump and, according to published reports, has discussed potential changes to CNN should Paramount win WBD, including terminating two CNN stars, Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar.

Hollywood is concerned about the prospect of a Netflix takeover of WBD, in part because of Netflix’s aversion to putting movies in theaters. Furthermore, Trump Administration officials have raised antitrust concerns about the deal, the New York Post reported in November. But Mr. Trump indicated that he may have other concerns about the deal: Netflix’s left-wing ideology.

On Sunday, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover.”

He shared an opinion article written by a conservative lawyer,  John Pierce, that urged the Trump Administration to block the Netflix deal. 

Mr. Pierce said the Netflix deal is an “attempt to consolidate unprecedented cultural power inside one of America’s most ideologically aggressive corporations — a company that has repeatedly used its global platform to elevate progressive narratives while suppressing dissenting viewpoints.”

Mr. Pierce raised concerns that Netflix acquiring WBD would “weaken competition” in the streaming business. However, he said it would “concentrate cultural power in ways fundamentally at odds with the diversity of voices a free nation needs to survive.”

“On these grounds alone, this merger should be stopped,” he said.

Mr. Pierce wrote that Netflix “holds enormous influence over America’s imagination,” and that if the merger goes through, it would “allow one company to rewrite characters, retell history, redefine social norms, and control which ideas reach audiences.”

Netflix has long been criticized by conservatives who say it is pushing a left-wing ideology on viewers. In December, conservatives mocked Netflix over a series about a “trans woman [who] dreams of working the coal mines — but in a town steeped in superstition and patriarchy, Carlita must fight to earn her place underground.”

Late last year, conservatives, led by Elon Musk, called for a boycott of the streaming service after clips from a canceled cartoon on Netflix began circulating on X. The boycott push began when a right-wing X account, Libs of TikTok, shared a video from the Netflix show “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” in which the blue-haired protagonist, Barney Guttman, states, “I’m trans … and everyone at school knows and everyone at home knows.”

“Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids,” Mr. Musk wrote on X.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s top content executive, is a friend of the Obamas and raised large amounts of money for President Obama’s campaigns. Mr. Obama made Mr. Sarandos’ wife, Nicole Avant, ambassador to the Bahamas. Then, when the Obamas had left office, Mr. Sarandos gave them an extremely lucrative production deal in 2018 that some experts said could be worth as much as $65 million, a princely sum for novice producers. 

Mr. Trump told reporters last year that he would be “involved” in the process of reviewing the WBD deal, though he did not provide more details about what that involvement would entail. 

In December, Mr. Trump called Mr. Ted Sarandos a “great person” (the two men had dinner at Mar-a-Lago in late 2024). But despite the bonhomie, there have been lingering questions about whether the Trump Administration would approve the Netflix deal, beyond concerns about its left-wing content and dominance.

Mr. Trump has said he believes that CNN, which is owned by WBD, should be sold as part of any deal.

“I think CNN should be sold, because I think the people running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent,” he told reporters at the White House in December. 

Under the current Netflix deal, CNN would be spun off with WBD’s other cable networks – such as the Discovery Channel – under a separate company, run by WBD’s chief financial officer, Gunnar Wiedenfels. This spin-off does not meet Mr. Trump’s criteria for CNN being sold, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

While the Netflix deal would not lead to CNN being sold, Paramount’s hostile takeover of WBD aims to buy the entire company, including the cable networks such as CNN.

The Ellisons’ connection to the White House has led to speculation that the Trump Administration would quickly approve a Paramount-Netflix deal. But Mr. Trump has voiced frustration with David Ellison’s management of CBS, which he acquired last summer. 

“For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that 60 Minutes has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover,’ than they have ever treated me before,” Mr. Trump wrote in December. 

Before receiving the FCC’s consent to purchase Paramount, the Ellisons agreed in writing to practice fair and balanced journalism at CBS News and make its content more reflective of American society’s diverse views. In practice, however, CBS News has remained critical of Mr. Trump’s administration on its flagship broadcast, “60 Minutes,” as well as on its Sunday programs. 

A ham-handed effort to hold one of the “60 Minutes” anti-Trump pieces – about the Venezuelan illegal immigrants that the U.S. deported to El Salvador – resulted in an enormous public controversy, ultimately leading to CBS News being the butt of lacerating jokes at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.

Paramount said on Monday that it plans to nominate members for WBD’s board of directors ahead of its shareholder meeting, as it hopes to pull off its hostile takeover bid. 

Paramount said in a statement that WBD has offered “increasingly novel reasons for avoiding a transaction with Paramount, but what it has never said, because it cannot, is that the Netflix transaction is financially superior to our actual offer.”

Netflix did not comment on Mr. Trump’s post.