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U.S. President Donald Trump has called on Netflix to dismiss board member Susan Rice “immediately” or “pay the consequences,” escalating political pressure on the streaming giant at a time when it is pursuing a multibillion-dollar takeover of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).
Trump’s remarks followed comments Rice made during the Stay Tuned with Preet podcast, hosted by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. In that interview, Rice suggested that companies she believes had yielded to Republican pressure should not expect leniency from Democrats if they return to power.
“This is not going to be an instance of forgive and forget. The damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and our national interest,” she stated.
Responding on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump described Rice as “racist” and “Trump Deranged" and wrote in full: “Netflix should fire racist, Trump-deranged Susan Rice IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences. She’s got no talent or skills—purely a political hack! HER POWER IS GONE, AND WILL NEVER BE BACK. How much is she being paid, and for what??? Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Rice previously served in senior roles under former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and now sits on Netflix’s board.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos sought to play down the political dimension when asked about Trump’s intervention. He said the proposed transaction was “a business deal; it’s not a political deal,” adding that Trump “likes to do a lot of things on social media.”
Sarandos made the remarks while defending Netflix’s $82.7 billion takeover bid for selected assets of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The offer focuses on WBD’s studio and streaming platforms, while other parts of the company would be spun off separately.
At the same time, rival Paramount Skydance has been attempting to put forward a competing proposal. Paramount, controlled by the Ellison family, is seeking to acquire the entire WBD corporation in a deal valued at $108.4 billion.
That offer is backed by a reported $40 billion personal guarantee from Larry Ellison, co-founder of the cloud computing company Oracle.
Paramount has been given until the end of Monday to submit what has been described as its best and final offer.
Sarandos argued that Netflix’s approach would help grow the industry rather than shrink it. He said Netflix would be adding a movie studio and a distribution arm that it does not currently operate, while claiming that Paramount had committed to cutting $6 billion from the business soon after any takeover.
He characterized Paramount’s proposal as a “classic, horizontal media merger,” a term used to describe a merger between companies operating at the same level in the industry. According to Sarandos, such deals tend to reduce competition and harm both consumers and creators because they combine similar studios into one.
Critics of both proposals have warned that either transaction could concentrate too much power in the hands of a single owner, raising concerns about reduced competition across the media landscape.
Beyond the U.S. political debate, the proposed takeover has also drawn attention in the United Kingdom.
In January, Members of Parliament wrote to regulators calling for a competition review, arguing that the deal could lead to a substantial lessening of competition with potentially damaging consequences for consumers and the UK’s creative industries.
Sarandos defended Netflix’s presence in the UK by emphasizing its local production base. He said that Netflix teams in the country are entirely British and that most writers, directors, and creators working on its UK productions are also British.
According to Sarandos, 59 productions are currently underway in the UK, with only a minority involving non-British projects filming there.
He cited recent series such as Baby Reindeer and Adolescence as examples of British stories that might not otherwise have reached large global audiences.
He suggested that such successes encourage Netflix to take on more ambitious and unconventional projects.
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