President Donald Trump purchased up to $2 million in investments tied to Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery shortly after the two media companies announced a major merger, according to a financial disclosure released by the White House. The timing of the purchases has renewed concerns among ethics experts about potential conflicts of interest, per CNN.
The disclosure shows that Trump bought corporate bonds linked to Netflix and Discovery Communications, which operates under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella, just days after Netflix revealed plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a multibillion-dollar deal. According to CNN, the White House emphasized that the president does not control his personal investment decisions.
“All holdings are maintained in discretionary accounts and invested through computer-based model portfolios that automatically replicate recognized indexes, such as the Schwab 1000,” the White House said. “Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold. All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers.”
Despite those assurances, ethics experts say the investments could raise questions because of Trump’s role in overseeing regulatory decisions that could affect the merger. According to CNN, Ann Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, warned that the situation presents a potential ethical dilemma.
“The president’s investments in these two companies now pose ethical concerns because the president has said he will be directly involved in decisions regarding the merger,” Skeet told CNN. “This sets up the potential for a conflict of interest due to his involvement in regulatory oversight of the deal. The president should be making decisions prioritizing the interests of the public solely.”
The financial disclosure, required by the Office of Government Ethics, lists 191 transactions, including two large sales valued between $1.25 million and $51 million, along with significant holdings in corporate and municipal bonds. According to CNN, the exact size of individual purchases is unclear because the report uses broad value ranges, in some cases between $1 million and $5 million.
The investments were made between November 14 and December 19. A White House official told CNN that Trump’s portfolio is managed independently by third-party financial institutions. At the beginning of his term, the Trump Organization announced an ethics plan stating that Trump would have no involvement in managing his business interests, though the plan did not require divestment or recusal from specific matters.
Related: Netflix Prepares All-Cash Bid for Warner Bros Discovery Studios and Streaming Assets
Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, described Trump’s Netflix-related investments as another area of concern. According to CNN, Painter said the holdings add to a broader pattern of potential conflicts, including the president’s involvement in cryptocurrency ventures.
“This is just one more investment that might very well conflict with his official duties, but by no means is it the most serious,” Painter said in an interview with CNN.
Painter also noted that previous presidents took additional steps to distance themselves from financial conflicts. It is “unprecedented” for a president not to avoid conflicts of interest as much as possible, he said, adding, “Every other president has voluntarily avoided conflicts of interest, even though the conflict of interest statute doesn’t apply to the president.”
Details in the disclosure show that Trump made two separate purchases of Netflix bonds and two purchases of Discovery Communications bonds, each valued between $250,001 and $500,000. According to CNN, those transactions occurred on December 12 and December 16. Just days earlier, on December 5, Netflix announced plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion plus debt, a deal that would include its film and television studios and the HBO streaming service.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, is not selling CNN as part of the Netflix deal. The company has said it intends to split into two publicly traded entities in 2026. According to CNN, Netflix would acquire the Warner-focused business, while a separate company, Discovery Global, would retain CNN and other cable networks.
The merger has also drawn interest from rivals. On December 8, Paramount launched a hostile takeover attempt to block the Netflix acquisition. Warner Bros. Discovery ultimately rejected Paramount’s offer on January 7 and indicated that Netflix remains its preferred buyer, per CNN.
Source: CNN
