President Trump appeared to wade anew into the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, calling on Netflix, one of the suitors, to fire a member of its board, Susan Rice.
“She’s got no talent or skills — Purely a political hack!,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media Saturday evening, sharing an X post by the right-wing agitator Laura Loomer. Ms. Loomer’s post quoted Ms. Rice as saying that companies that took “a knee to Trump” would face accountability from Democrats if that party wins a majority in Congress in the midterm elections in November.
Ms. Rice worked in the Clinton, Biden and Obama administrations. She served as the American ambassador to the United Nations and as national security adviser to President Barack Obama and joined the Netflix board in 2018, then left in 2020 to work in the Biden administration, and then joined again in 2023.
Netflix declined on Sunday to comment.
Warner Bros. announced a deal in December to sell a large portion of its business to Netflix for $83 billion, beating an offer by Paramount Skydance to acquire the whole company for $108 billion. Netflix is now seeking federal regulatory approval for the deal, including from the Justice Department.
Paramount has continued to pursue its own bid. It has taken its offer to shareholders and threatened a proxy war. Last week, Warner Bros. reopened talks with Paramount after its latest sweetened offer, giving Paramount until Monday to present its best and final offer. Antitrust experts have raised concerns about both deals.
Part of Paramount’s pitch to shareholders has been that its own deal is more likely to win regulators’ approval. Last week, Paramount, which is led by David Ellison, said that it had reached a key milestone in the Justice Department deal review process. The Justice Department could still move to block the deal. If the government sues to stop either deal, the companies could challenge that decision in court.
Mr. Trump has played an increasingly interventionist role in U.S. business, and politics has played a big role in several deals during the Trump administration. Mr. Trump, who has paid particularly close attention to media deals, has met with both Mr. Ellison and the co-chief executive of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, in recent months.
Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount dragged on for months as Paramount grappled with a lawsuit brought by Mr. Trump. The deal finally won clearance from the Federal Communications Commission after it settled Mr. Trump’s lawsuit for $16 million. Larry Ellison, the co-founder of the tech giant Oracle and father of David who has backed his son’s deal to buy Paramount and his bid to buy Warner Bros., is friendly with Mr. Trump.
Nicole Sperling contributed reporting.
Lauren Hirsch is a Times reporter who covers deals and dealmakers in Wall Street and Washington.
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