Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is scheduled to visit the White House on Thursday as the streaming service navigates political regulatory headwinds tied to its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
It is unclear whether Sarandos will meet with President Donald Trump, although the visit comes after the president issued a public demand that Netflix remove board member Susan Rice, who served in the administrations of former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, or face unspecified “consequences.”
Trump’s call for Rice’s firing, made on his Truth Social platform last weekend, marked a striking intervention in a corporate transaction that is under review by federal antitrust regulators.
Rice had previously said that corporations “take a knee to Trump” and faced conservative backlash over her comments.
The president, who has alternated between saying he would stay out of the deal and directly weighing in, characterized Rice as a “political hack” and criticized her compensation and qualifications. Sarandos was asked about the demand but brushed it off and said the deal is a business matter, not political.
The Netflix-WBD deal has also drawn mounting scrutiny from Republican state attorneys general, as 11 of them sent a letter this week to the Justice Department, addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging a thorough antitrust review of the proposed acquisition, warning that the combination could reduce competition, raise consumer prices, and undercut U.S. innovation in film and streaming markets.
Sarandos said while testifying at a Senate antitrust hearing that the merger is pro-competitive and beneficial to consumers, while dismissing fears that it would lessen competition in streaming and production.
The merger would give Netflix ownership of the Warner Bros. Discovery content library and the HBO Max streaming service. Paramount Skydance has also made a rival bid, valued at more than $108 billion, further complicating the competitive and regulatory landscape.
The letter from the attorneys general arrived the same day that WBD announced it would consider Paramount Skydance’s bid, although the for-sale studio’s agreement with Netflix still stands.
If Paramount’s offer is accepted, Netflix will get four business days to match it. A Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder vote on the Netflix agreement is scheduled for March 20.
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Netflix attempted to position its bid as a “vertical merger,” and Sarandos has said it would add assets to the company instead of eliminating competition.
Paramount’s rival bid, backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s family, has been pitched as an alternative that would preserve competition.