WASHINGTON, March 9, 2026, 2:47 PM EDT
President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosures show he bought between $1.1 million and $2.25 million of Netflix bonds while the streamer was battling Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros. Discovery. The filings do not show whether the bonds were later sold. 1
Netflix is trying to turn investors back toward its core business after dropping its Warner pursuit on Feb. 26. In explaining the retreat, co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters called Warner a “nice to have” rather than a “must have” at any price, and said Netflix would resume buybacks and spend about $20 billion on films and series this year. 2
The disclosure also drags Washington back into the picture. Trump and some of his officials had publicly questioned whether a Netflix-Warner tie-up would clear antitrust review, and the White House said the president’s assets sit in a trust run by his children and that there were “no conflicts of interest.” Trump, like other U.S. presidents, is exempt from the federal conflict-of-interest laws that apply to most executive-branch officials. 1
Two Office of Government Ethics transaction reports show one Netflix purchase of $250,001 to $500,000 on Dec. 12, another of $250,001 to $500,000 on Dec. 16, a third of $500,001 to $1 million on Jan. 2 and a fourth of $100,001 to $250,000 on Jan. 20, all in Netflix notes due in 2029. The same reports also list purchases of Warner bonds. 3
LSEG data showed the Netflix notes were trading around $1.03 to $1.04 on the dollar when Trump bought them and were at $1.03 last Friday. Whether he made or lost money is unclear because the disclosures do not say if or when he sold. 1
Netflix shares were down about 1.4% in afternoon trading on Monday at $97.59. Even so, the stock has recovered sharply since Netflix walked away from Warner; the shares jumped nearly 14% on Feb. 27 after investors cheered management’s refusal to pay up, and the company disclosed that Warner owed it a $2.8 billion termination fee, the payment due when a deal collapses. 4
Some analysts think that reset, not the disclosure, is the bigger story for the stock. Wedbush analyst Alicia Reese said it was “hard to look at this in any negative way,” while Wells Fargo’s Steven Cahall wrote that Warner had been an opportunistic “Plan B” and Netflix was back to “Plan A: invest for growth.” 5
Netflix told investors in January that it had crossed 325 million paid subscribers and expected 2026 revenue of $50.7 billion to $51.7 billion, with advertising revenue set to double to about $3 billion. Its ad-supported tier — the cheaper plan with commercials — plus live events are now central to the case that it can keep growing without buying another studio. 6
But the filing is a reminder that politics can still cut across media dealmaking. Netflix already saw its Warner bid collide with public regulatory questions, and any future push into larger acquisitions or pricier sports rights could bring similar attention, even as the company leans on organic spending, live programming and its ad business to hit growth targets. 1
