US President Donald Trump purchased up to $2 million in investments tied to Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery days after the announcement of a proposed megadeal between the two media companies, according to a financial disclosure released by the White House, reviving concerns among ethics experts about potential conflicts of interest.
The disclosure, required by the Office of Government Ethics and initially submitted on Wednesday, lists 191 financial transactions made between November 14 and December 19. These include two sales valued at a minimum of $1.25 million, as well as corporate and municipal bond transactions totaling as much as $51 million. Because the report lists investments in broad ranges—some between $1 million and $5 million—it is not possible to determine the precise amounts Trump purchased or sold.
Among the transactions were two purchases of Netflix bonds and two purchases of Discovery Communications bonds, each valued between $250,001 and $500,000. The purchases were made on December 12 and December 16, days after Netflix announced plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal valued at $72 billion plus debt.
A White House official said Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions, emphasizing that the president has no direct role in 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 in a statement. “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 raise legitimate questions because Trump has publicly indicated he would be involved in regulatory decisions related to the proposed Netflix–Warner Bros. transaction.
“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,” Ann Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said. “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.”
At the beginning of Trump’s term, the Trump Organization announced an ethics plan stating that Trump would “have no involvement” in managing his business empire. However, the plan did not require divestment from personal assets or recusal from matters that could affect his financial interests.
Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush and now a University of Minnesota law professor, said Trump’s media investments represent another “sliver” of potential conflicts, adding to broader concerns that include 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. He described it as “unprecedented” that Trump has not taken additional steps to avoid conflicts of interest, noting that previous presidents voluntarily did so even though federal conflict-of-interest statutes do not apply to the office of the president.
The corporate maneuvering surrounding Warner Bros. Discovery has further complicated the picture. Although Netflix announced plans on December 5 to acquire the Warner half of Warner Bros. Discovery following the company’s planned 2026 split into two publicly traded entities, Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid on December 8 in an attempt to block the sale. Warner Bros. Discovery’s board rejected Paramount’s bid on January 7, signaling Netflix remains its preferred buyer.
Paramount CEO David Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, have longstanding ties to Trump. Larry Ellison hosted a fundraiser for Trump in 2020 and is currently leading a group of investors seeking to acquire and oversee most of TikTok’s US assets.
Trump’s disclosure also lists purchases of debt tied to Boeing, Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, and General Motors, underscoring the breadth of his investment activity as debate continues over the ethical boundaries facing a president with extensive personal financial holdings.
