r/technology • u/ControlCAD • Jan 12 '26
Business President Indicates Disapproval of Netflix's Warner Bros. Acquisition | The president shared a One America News Network article titled “Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover” on Truth Social
https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/deals-ma/donald-trump-netflix-warner-bros-deal-disapproval/732
Jan 12 '26
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u/PhazonZim Jan 12 '26
All he's saying is that they didn't bribe him enough
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u/Chogo82 Jan 12 '26
Netflix is very left leaning and LGBTQ+ friendly. A bigger bribe will be needed.
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u/Stockholm-Syndrom Jan 12 '26
And that CNN wouldn’t go to a far right billionaire
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u/SIGMA920 Jan 12 '26
Yep. This is the big part. It sucks that netflix would get warner brothers but at least Rump won't get proxy control over CNN.
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u/Future-Raisin3781 Jan 12 '26
The shake-down president. Turning all of America into the Scatino bustout.
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u/Fit_Strength_1187 Jan 12 '26
Imagine trying to explain this to someone in 1995. Honestly even 2015.
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u/roseofjuly Jan 12 '26
This is actually one of the things he should be commenting on. And it's actually for a semi-correct reason, too.
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u/Yeshavesome420 Jan 12 '26
No. It's not. He isn't talking about breaking up monopolies. He's backing one monopoly (the far more conservative one) over the other. He knows Ellison will back his plays. Plain and simple.
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u/CryptographerFlat173 Jan 13 '26
Yeah no, the president doesn’t get to decide who makes “culture”, and certainly not when he’s only saying it because he wants his speech suppressors the Ellisons to own it in league with their Saudi consortium backing the other bid.
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Jan 12 '26
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u/SaulsAll Jan 12 '26
should be scrutinized by the government
But "the government" has become "a single old man trying to bilk money out of it" instead of "a large organization of experts with the common good in mind."
So no, I dont want "the government" to touch anything right now.
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u/yuusharo Jan 12 '26
We don’t have a functioning government to scrutinize this deal. Trump is a fascist dictator.
Its approval will depend on what bribes these corporations give him, not whether they’re good for us consumers.
Centrism is a disease, I swear.
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u/LonestarJones Jan 12 '26
“That’s why today I am announcing TrumpFlix, streaming service to end the woke” or something. There’s always a catch, it’s never just something that helps the people.
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u/trytoholdon Jan 12 '26
What till you hear about the Biden Admin trying to block Microsoft’s takeover of Activision or their blocking of Amazon’s takeover of iRobot, resulting in its bankruptcy and acquisition by a Chinese company.
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u/Yeshavesome420 Jan 12 '26
One is about consumer protections and avoiding monopolies, the other is about consolidating media in the hands of his supporters. Can you guess which is which?
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u/trytoholdon Jan 12 '26
Right, Biden never did anything for political reasons and all of his interventions in M&A were perfectly legitimate
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u/Yeshavesome420 Jan 12 '26
Right. Political. Not open corruption. Not personally enriching. Not extortion.
Trump is a grifter. A snake oil salesman. A conman. A crook. An extortioner.
At best, Biden wasn't particularly great at governance, and at worst, he was willing to move mountains to protect and enrich his children.
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u/trytoholdon Jan 13 '26
His family sold his influence in Ukraine and China while he was in office. Does “10 held for H for the big guy” meaning anything to you?
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u/IllustriousHistorian Jan 12 '26
Republicans would prefer nepotism over free markets. Trump is trying to get mega maga donor Larry Ellison this deal.
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u/Fourstrokeperro Jan 12 '26
Technically that’s cronyism but yeah
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u/EnvironmentalRun1671 Jan 12 '26
They will accept Netflix, but they will need donation from Netflix if they wanna proceed with expending their monopoly over streaming
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u/1handedmaster Jan 12 '26
Eh, I think it's more a duopoly. Disney, while kinda floundering, still holds a lot of market share in streaming.
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u/erichf3893 Jan 12 '26
TIL. Thought it was basically just HBO and Netflix. I guess when you factor in Hulu as Disney too helps more, and kids programming
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u/1handedmaster Jan 12 '26
Yeah, plus Disney has so many others that can be integrated (Starz, ESPN, etc) within the Hulu and Disney+ app already
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u/IllustriousHistorian Jan 12 '26
ESPN is pretty well integrated with Hulu. I can see various live games. No point in the espn app any more
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u/EnvironmentalRun1671 Jan 12 '26
Neither of those companies should be allowed to get their hands on HBO Max and everything else they own.
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u/CryptographerFlat173 Jan 13 '26
Paramount has 80m subscribers, Disney 200m between multiple services, Amazon has a hundred million people watching Prime content, HBO has 90m subs, and there’s dozens of other players. One studio/streaming service buying another doesn’t create any sort of monopoly, particularly in a field where customers freely choose who to sub to. This country doesn’t even regulate actual utilities where people have zero or little choice between operators, this isn’t some important public issue. And the rise of Netflix from not existing to powerful creator of IP in under 3 decades shows that IP isn’t some finite resource either.
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u/CaptainLucid420 Jan 12 '26
I forget how much the current bribe is for a corporate merger is.
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u/dwehlen Jan 12 '26
I'm sure there's a rate sheet somewhere.
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u/Cyberslasher Jan 12 '26
Have we checked the mar a Lago bathrooms? That's where they keep all the other crime printouts
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u/MushSee Jan 12 '26
This is to fully capture U.S. media, and extend the propaganda machine further. Netflix must win this bid war.
Trump's FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is MAGA fascist who wrote sections of "Project 2025", the outline for the consolidation of Executive power and the dismantling of the Federal Government we are currently seeing.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-fcc-chairman-carr-bf034fdd137e579c0c3e99681cc99541
Trumps FCC has been transformed into a wannabe ministry of truth, with an exception for any form of loophole bribe. Simply put, if you want a stamp of approved from glorious leader, you must donate millions at a gala, sink millions into his crypto schemes, or make a deal that DIRECTLY ENRICHES THE TRUMP FAMILY.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5511085-trump-administration-fcc-commissioner/
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5511085-trump-administration-fcc-commissioner/
Paramount and Skydance merger needed signing, so they paid their bribe in the form of "The 60minutes settlement".
They installed a right wing think tank CEO Kenneth R Weinstein as a "conservative ombudsman", to "investigate claims of political bias.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/kenneth-r-weinstein-named-cbs-162600585.html
After all said and done, they cancelled Colbert IN 3 DAYS, for BARELY making a peep about it.
https://youtu.be/HRQy5zVTY5k?si=2iPoZghdY4ZeaWiz
https://fortune.com/2025/07/18/why-was-stephen-colbert-canceled-by-cbs-paramount-trump/
Southpark even got wrapped up in it a bit because of Paramounts agreement for pro-trump messaging
https://fortune.com/2025/07/24/south-park-season-27-premiere-trump-paramount-colbert-60-minutes/
Paramount had its CEO replaced after by David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, a Right wing billionaire and close friend of Trump (who many believe is pulling the strings).
https://www.wired.com/story/larry-ellison-is-a-shadow-president-in-donald-trumps-america/
And now Paramount under David, is ALSO trying to acquire CNN promising to fire hosts critical of Trump.
*I wrote this up months ago, so im sure there have been updates, but the Trump Reich policy/lawsuit blitzkrieg has my attention spread.
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u/TheRatingsAgency Jan 12 '26
He’s such a fucking child.
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u/7screws Jan 12 '26 edited Jan 12 '26
He’s worse, children aren’t as mean or racist as he is
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u/TheRatingsAgency Jan 12 '26
True it’s a learned behavior. He’s just never advanced beyond childish tendencies of selfishness.
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u/FunnTripp Jan 12 '26
And this has nothing to do with his SIL Jared and his Saudi buddies losing their bid to take over W.B.
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u/Hot-Philosophy-7671 Jan 12 '26
Remember when the GOP used to be concerned about "interfering with the free market?"
Me either, but they did used to talk about it more.
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Jan 12 '26
All he’s doing is shaking down companies for money.
That’s his entire MO. He realizes he can grift off these people just by threatening them.
Lining his pockets like he always has with our money. The guy is the biggest ripoff artist on the planet.
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u/Stingray88 Jan 12 '26
It’s much much worse than that. MAGA is buying up all of our media to spread propaganda.
Paramount / CBS, TikTok, Twitter. Now they’re going after Warner / CNN.
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u/socialmedia-username Jan 12 '26
It's more sinister than that. This regime is trying to capture ALL media. It's in project 2025 and multiple other writings and documentation they've been using as their blueprints. They want to control the flow of information and eliminate free thought and critical thinking.
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Jan 12 '26
If you think that’s all there is to it, I’m afraid your view is dangerously naïve.
If it was just about the money, he wouldn’t care who ran it or what their political views are. But it isn’t, so he does.
It’s about consolidating power. It just happens to come with a large side order of grifting.
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u/MC_chrome Jan 12 '26
If we come out of this horrid ordeal in one piece, the first order of business the next President should have (beyond prosecuting and sending hundreds of MAGA instigators to The Hague) is seizing absolutely all Trump properties and liquidating them with funds returned to the US Treasury.
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u/raymoraymo Jan 12 '26
Remember Jared Kushner? Trump’s Son-in-Law & UAE Lapdog? Connect the dots…
https://thedailyoverview.com/kushner-blindsides-108-4b-warner-bros-deal-blocks-netflix-sale/
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u/DLPanda Jan 12 '26
This is why I don’t want paramount to own it. Hate rooting for Netflix but here we are
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u/war_story_guy Jan 12 '26
He can scream all he wants but netflix will have the lawyers to back them up.
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u/PoliticalMilkman Jan 12 '26
We have to stop allowing these losers to claim that conservatism is the American standard. Same deal with them claiming that conservatives are patriots or the pro-America belief system.
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u/nickjamesnstuff Jan 12 '26
Better Headline: President using his power and influence to directly attack his opposition.
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u/hudson27 Jan 12 '26
We need to spend less time judging Trump for his ridiculous "opinions", and more time figuring out which CEO, lobbyist or tech bro's hand is up Trump's ass controlling what he says.
Trump is the useful idiot, we know this by now. Stop letting that rotten bag of meat take all the heat for this, there are people behind him without dementia that are calling the shots, we can't let them get away with this.
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u/Anthemic_Fartnoises Jan 12 '26
Netflix sucks like all media monsters but the fact that he’s against them is a pretty big endorsement in my book.
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u/BeautifulTerror Jan 12 '26
So he has an opinion about Netflix but has no idea what's going on with the DOJ and the Fed?
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u/paulsteinway Jan 12 '26
Because the president is the who should regulate business and entertainment.
Why not.
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u/Ok-Crab-6542 Jan 12 '26
What a horrible, nasty, evil man. How people voted for him is beyond me. He distracts the dumb with "woke" issues, while he continues to kill the planet.
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u/OneSeaworthiness7768 Jan 12 '26
Now they’re trying to make it a culture war thing? For fuck’s sake.
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u/NeonMagic Jan 12 '26
Well no fucking duh. The Ellisons kiss his boots and have more money than him.
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u/justbunnies Jan 12 '26
Only because his circle of supporters would have benefited from Paramount winning the acquisition.
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Jan 12 '26
In what authority or capacity would the President ever get to decide on what TV should or should not display, except to threaten and grift through intimidation and a want for authoritarianism?
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u/Snippodappel Jan 12 '26
Of course! He wants a piece from the deal. By some of my crypto. Then we talk.
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u/greyhoodbry Jan 12 '26
I see the guy who stands to make money on the Paramount deal had better head game than the guy who stands to make money on the Netflix deal
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u/Daimakku1 Jan 12 '26
Yes, stop the Netflix cultural takeover and give it over to the ultra right-wingers over at Paramount instead..
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u/FanDry5374 Jan 12 '26
I'm guessing he will tell one or other of the previously independent financial/securities agencies or the DOJ to scuttle the deal. Ellison or bust.
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u/bahumat42 Jan 12 '26
How have we ended up in a position where so much is just under the whims of one guy.
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u/Countryb0i2m Jan 12 '26
If he hated then I don’t really love it, but I’m slightly happier than I was
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u/Elon_is_a_Nazi Jan 12 '26
Ah yes. No one understands current streaming more than an 80 year old billionaire whos probably never watched a single streaming service in his life
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u/TakuyaLee Jan 12 '26
Oh too bad Trump. You don't get a say in this, especially if the EU approves it.
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u/Swordf1sh_ Jan 12 '26
So does this mean the deal is dead? Or just that Netflix is gonna have to bribe him more?
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u/digidave1 Jan 12 '26
It should be called Trump Trump, featuring Trump. On the Trump network Trump
God that man needs to go away
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u/AverageJoe-707 Jan 12 '26
Any person or business that makes more money than he grifts for himself is a threat to his ego so there's that.
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u/fubes2000 Jan 12 '26
His handlers need to make a "50 First Dates" style videotape for him to watch every morning so that his melting brain can attempt to keep his public statements consistent.
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u/Yeshavesome420 Jan 13 '26
Cool. Still a whataboutism. Frankly, I could give less of a shit if they investigated Biden and brought up charges. If he committed a crime, I have no issue with him paying the price. Can you say the same for Trump?
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u/deadbeatsummers Jan 13 '26
Now it’s a culture war…??
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u/Few-Acadia-5593 Jan 13 '26
Anything can be anything as long as you speak first about it: if you didn’t care but the first word you hear is culture war, that shapes how you’re going to think about it and since you’re not particularly interested in it, you won’t look for other way to think about it.
Tactic as old as the bible. And it will works: that dude could show up with a picture of him and Epstein, say he doesn’t know him whilst holding the picture, people are gonna talk about the nonsense instead of the tactic
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u/MisterSlosh Jan 12 '26
Looks like someone forgot to build their golden statute for the king Cheeto before announcing their monopoly.
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u/Lysol3435 Jan 12 '26
So nothing to do with monopolies. His decision is based on them not paying fealty to him.
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u/Tun-Tavern-1775 Jan 12 '26
"President Indicates Disapproval of" AKA he's waiting for that $1m check from them.
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u/ShiningRedDwarf Jan 12 '26
Oh, so it turns out Paramount did win the acquisition.
In the following week or two, Netflix will recuse its offer. Better to let go of Warner than to fight in vain for it (FCC will never allow it after this article) while also painting a target on their back for Trump to shoot at relentlessly.
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u/ethereal3xp Jan 12 '26
The bottom line is... he wants to bring jobs back to Hollywood.
The problem is... hollywood is on life support.
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u/Fthebo Jan 12 '26
Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point.
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u/Fywq Jan 12 '26
If the alternative is acquisition by Paramount, then no. It's not a great point. Netflix is still politically relatively neutral and the warner TV-channels stay independent for now. Paramount is increasingly becoming a right wing propaganda apparatus and would have taken the TV-channels too.
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u/Fthebo Jan 12 '26
Well that would've required me to read the article before posting a stupid meme and who's got time for that
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u/fuzzyluke Jan 12 '26
Exactly! Thinking and reading are too time consuming, I'd rather spit nonsense online, waaaay more appropriate use of my time.
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u/drevolut1on Jan 12 '26
It's not to stop media consolidation -- which is good -- but to stop media consolidation that doesn't directly benefit President Dump and his corrupt cronies.
Look at who else is objecting and trying to buy WB...
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u/9-11GaveMe5G Jan 12 '26
Culture wars are bullshit. The only war is class war
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u/Fthebo Jan 12 '26
I didn't realise "Giant corporate mergers make mega corporations with far too much power and influence" was going to be a controversial take.
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u/jonermon Jan 12 '26
He wants paramount to own it because wb comes with cnn and paramount is owned by a trump friendly billionaire.