Netflix’s sweeping bid for Warner Bros. Discovery has taken on an unmistakable political undertone, after co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed he personally pitched President Donald Trump on the deal before it was announced.

Sarandos, speaking Monday at the UBS media conference, said Netflix and the White House had found unusual alignment, even as analysts warn that the streaming giant still faces a bruising regulatory test.

Sarandos said their conversations went beyond courtesy calls, noting that he had spoken with Trump “many times since the election about the different challenges facing the entertainment industry.” He framed the administration’s view as practical and centered on employment.

“The president’s interests in this are the same as ours, which is to create and protect jobs,” he said, presenting Netflix as a stabilizing force at a time when Hollywood remains uneasy over consolidation.

Trump reinforced that cordiality on Sunday, calling Sarandos a “great person” who had done “one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies.” At the same time, he signaled that Netflix’s enormous footprint could still trigger antitrust scrutiny, saying the platform’s “big market share” might be “a problem” as it tries to acquire one of Hollywood’s oldest studios.

The deal, valued at $82.7 billion including $72 billion in equity, covers Warner Bros.’ film and streaming assets but leaves out WBD’s declining cable networks like CNN and HGTV.

Those networks are precisely what Netflix avoided, and Paramount Skydance embraced. On Monday, Paramount fired back with a hostile $30-per-share, all-cash offer to buy the entirety of WBD, including the legacy networks that investors have increasingly treated as liabilities. Netflix’s $27.75-per-share proposal mixes cash with some stock and hinges on the idea that Warner Bros.’ core studio and Max streaming service are the crown jewels worth salvaging.

Sarandos shrugged off Paramount’s counter, saying the move “was entirely expected.” Yet the fight escalated quickly, with Paramount CEO David Ellison taking to CNBC hours after the market opened to call his company’s offer “pro-consumer, pro-creative talent,” and “pro-competition.” He insisted that Paramount’s bid would breeze through regulatory review faster than Netflix’s, which he implied would face more skepticism given Netflix’s scale.

Ellison’s confidence also reflects a degree of political cover. His father, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, is one of Trump’s closest allies, and that relationship has been noted in market circles since the moment Paramount entered the bidding war.

Still, Netflix appears to be building a channel of goodwill with Trump as well. Co-CEO Greg Peters said he is “very confident that regulators should, and will, approve” the transaction, pointing to Netflix’s commitment to keep Warner Bros.’ theatrical pipeline intact. Sarandos went even further, insisting Netflix would handle Warner Bros.’ movies “exactly the way they’ve released those movies today,” an assurance that appears aimed partly at the White House and partly at unions still nursing resentment from the last round of industry consolidation.

Sarandos also sought to cast Netflix as the protector of Hollywood employment, a sensitive issue in an industry rattled by recent strikes, studio cutbacks, and a historic contraction in cable advertising. He contrasted Netflix’s approach directly with Ellison’s. Paramount has promised roughly $6 billion in “synergies” from any merger with WBD. Sarandos interpreted that as a coded guarantee of massive layoffs.

“Where do you think synergies come from? Cutting jobs,” he said. “We’re not cutting jobs — we’re making jobs.”

What Sarandos did not highlight is that Netflix itself has pledged between $2 billion and $3 billion in cost savings tied to its own offer for Warner Bros. Discovery. Investors expect those reductions to come from overlapping marketing, tech, back-office functions, and real estate. Sarandos argued that any restructuring Netflix undertakes would not jeopardize the creative workforce, though analysts say the distinction may be difficult to sustain if the merger closes.

Warner Bros. Discovery, a company born from a previous megamerger, remains weighed down by heavy debt, a struggling cable portfolio, and a streaming division that has been retooled repeatedly. The battle now underway — Netflix’s cleaner, asset-focused bid versus Paramount’s all-in sweep — will shape the future of one of Hollywood’s most storied studios, determine which streaming platform holds the next wave of bargaining power, and test how the Trump administration approaches the entertainment industry during a period of rapid upheaval.

The European Union has issued its first major enforcement blow under the Digital Services Act, hitting Elon Musk’s X with a €120 million fine on Friday — about $140 million — and setting off a diplomatic and corporate firestorm that now spans Brussels, Washington, and Silicon Valley.

The penalty marks the first time any platform has been punished under the DSA, and the episode has quickly evolved beyond a regulatory dispute into a broader clash over sovereignty, competition, and the power of American tech giants inside Europe.

Musk answered the announcement in trademark fashion, firing off a single-word post — “Bullshit” — to his ? profile minutes after the European Commission released the details. But the public confrontation escalated further a day later when X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, accused the Commission of misusing a platform loophole to boost the reach of its announcement and then responded by shutting down the EU executive’s advertising account on X.

Bier said the Commission had not used its ad account since 2021, yet relied on a post format reserved for paid promotions to publish the fine announcement. He claimed the institution used “a link that deceives users into thinking it’s a video and to artificially increase its reach.” The post did, in fact, contain a video showing the Commission’s message, but Bier’s allegation centered on how the link was formatted.

His retaliation, suspending the Commission’s ad account, is unlikely to carry practical consequences. If the account has truly been dormant for three years, withholding it does little to influence the process now underway. X is still expected to pay the €120 million fine unless its appeal succeeds, and the company must, within 60 days, submit a concrete plan to address its use of “deceptive” verified checkmarks or risk further punishment.

As this brewed in Europe, the fine ignited a wave of condemnation across the United States. Officials in Washington warned the EU that the Trump administration may retaliate to defend American tech companies, tying the standoff directly to trade, tariffs, and broader diplomatic relations. Corporate leaders joined the chorus, describing the EU’s increasingly aggressive regulatory posture as harmful to investment. JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said Europe “has driven business out, driven investment out and driven innovation out.”

Beyond the immediate dispute with X, Brussels is intensifying its confrontation with Big Tech after years of complaints that American digital platforms dominate the European market without adequate oversight. Three months after hitting Google with an unexpected €2.95 billion fine in an unrelated antitrust case, the European Commission followed with this 120-million-euro penalty on X for breaking EU content rules.

The wider conflict now involves the Digital Markets Act, which seeks to rein in power across a long list of companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, ByteDance, and Booking.com. It also involves the Digital Services Act, the same law at the center of the dispute with Musk, which requires major platforms to curb illegal content, mitigate harmful material, and provide transparency on how their systems function.

Senior Commission officials show no signs of wavering under American pressure. Teresa Ribera, the EU’s antitrust chief, flatly rejected complaints from Washington, saying, “It is our duty to remind others that we deserve respect. I don’t enter into how they regulate the health standards in the U.S. market. But I am in charge of defending the well-functioning digital markets in Europe and it is not related at all with any type of joint conversation.”

During another public appearance, Ribera dismissed the idea that competition law should be deployed as an economic weapon. She described it instead as “an essential pillar of open, fair, and sustainable markets,” warning it should never serve as a “bargaining chip in trade negotiations or a tool for protectionism.”

Several analysts note that Washington’s threats may already be losing their effect. Daniel Mandrescu, a lawyer at Geradin Partners and associate professor at Leiden University, said the Commission’s announcement of a new investigation into Meta suggests that political pressure from the United States “is rapidly losing its strength,” arguing that adherence to the rule of law leaves Europe little room to compromise.

Some observers believe this moment marks the EU’s most assertive phase of tech enforcement in years. Rupprecht Podszun, a professor at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and director at the Institute for Competition Law, said he was struck by the newfound determination inside the Commission. He warned that the momentum itself creates higher expectations, because backing down later would undermine the entire effort. The Google Ad-Tech case, he said, will serve as a crucial test, as will the outcome of the new Meta AI probe.

Google recently offered to make it easier for publishers and advertisers to use its online advertising tools without switching between different services. The company hopes the proposal can resolve concerns without the forced divestiture the EU has pressed for. A ruling is likely early next year.

Meanwhile, the Commission has launched a fresh investigation into Meta, which could force the company to pause its rollout of new AI features inside WhatsApp on the grounds that the changes may block rivals.

Taken together, the moves create a new collision course between Europe’s historic stance on digital sovereignty and Washington’s determination to defend its most powerful technology firms. The DSA fine against X is more than a penalty for a specific breach; it signals a shift into a more assertive chapter for the EU, one that may complicate relations with the Trump administration and reset the balance of power between regulators and global platforms.

Paramount Skydance jolted Hollywood and Wall Street on Monday with a stunning $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery, an all-out attempt to topple Netflix’s leading offer and pull one of the world’s biggest entertainment libraries into its orbit.

The move blew open what had seemed, as of late last week, like a settled outcome. Netflix was declared the winning bidder on Friday after securing a $72 billion equity deal for Warner Bros Discovery’s studio assets, HBO, Max, and the DC Comics portfolio.

Paramount’s aggressive intervention ensures the saga is nowhere near done. Instead of a clean end to a fierce bidding race between Paramount, Netflix, and Comcast, the battle has swung into a new phase featuring political intervention, shareholder pressure, regulatory storm clouds, and long-simmering industry rivalries.

Netflix’s deal remains the formal leader, yet it comes with a $5.8 billion break-up fee and a mountain of regulatory hurdles. U.S. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that the planned sale “could be a problem” because of the amount of market power Netflix would gain. His concern was echoed by lawmakers from both parties, along with Hollywood unions that fear another merger could fuel sweeping job losses in a sector already cut down by streaming-era consolidation.

Paramount’s bid, though larger, isn’t free from its own concerns. A merger between Paramount and Warner Bros would create a single studio with enormous sway over theatrical releases, broadcast rights, and global streaming. The consolidation wave has already thinned opportunities in production, visual effects, and distribution, so anxiety about additional layoffs remains high.

Even so, Paramount believes it has a better case than Netflix. The company had already raised its offer to $30 per share last Thursday, according to sources who spoke to Reuters, though Warner Bros Discovery’s board still questioned whether Paramount had fully secured its financing. Paramount also accused Warner Bros of running an unfair sale process and preselecting Netflix as the winner. Executives at Warner Bros had reportedly described the Netflix deal as a “slam dunk” while speaking unflatteringly about Paramount’s offer.

Industry analysts say the situation is now set for a drawn-out fight. Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes said, “Netflix is in the driver’s seat but there will be twists and turns before the finish line. Paramount will appeal to shareholders, regulators, and politicians to try to stymie Netflix. The battle could become prolonged.”

Paramount CEO David Ellison drove that point home on Monday, saying there is an “inherent bias” working against his company.

“We will be the largest investor in this deal. We’re literally sitting here today because we are fighting for our shareholders, and we’re also fighting for the shareholders of Warner Bros Discovery,” he told CNBC.

Paramount’s bid draws strength from Ellison’s financial backing. His father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, remains one of the world’s wealthiest individuals and maintains warm ties with the Trump administration. That political proximity may matter, given that Trump has openly questioned whether the Netflix deal should be allowed at all.

On Sunday night in Washington, Trump told reporters, “They have a very big market share. And when they have Warner Brothers, you know, that share goes up a lot. It could be a problem.”

He added that he intends to take part in the review process. Trump also said Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos “made no guarantees” about the deal when he visited the Oval Office last week. A senior administration official later told CNBC that the White House views the agreement with “heavy skepticism.”

The concern is rooted in the sheer scale of what Netflix would gain. Exclusive control of HBO, DC Comics, Warner Bros Pictures, Warner TV, and a globe-spanning IP library would give Netflix near-total command of the premium-content landscape. Gaming is another crucial piece. Netflix has been pushing into gaming with modest progress, and analysts say Warner’s characters and franchises would instantly strengthen its ambitions.

Morningstar analysts warned that the combined company would face overlap issues and that its streaming revenue could fall unless Netflix dramatically raises subscription prices or runs separate streaming platforms. Neither option is considered attractive.

Netflix has tried to lower the temperature. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company is “highly confident” in the regulatory process and insisted the deal “will drive value for consumers, shareholders and talent.” Even so, the atmosphere in Washington is tense. Senator Elizabeth Warren called the deal an “anti-monopoly nightmare,” while other lawmakers said the sale risks creating a new era of entertainment-sector concentration.

Paramount is capitalizing on that climate. The company warned Warner Bros Discovery’s legal team that the Netflix sale might “never close” because of the sheer regulatory gauntlet it must pass, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Comcast had also been a contender but withdrew after being outbid. Meanwhile, Warner Bros Discovery has its own restructuring plans in motion. The company intends to spin out Discovery Global, a new entity that would hold CNN, TNT Sports, and core Discovery channels.

The entire saga has left the industry in a state of suspended animation. Media consolidation has already reshaped the sector, swallowing legacy studios, collapsing independent production houses, and reshuffling talent deals. Hollywood workers fear another mega-merger will tighten budgets even further.

What once looked like a straightforward auction will now stretch into a political and corporate contest involving the White House, regulators, Wall Street, Hollywood unions, and competing tech empires. Netflix may still close its deal, but Paramount’s hostile offer has ensured that Warner Bros Discovery’s fate is now the most volatile story in modern entertainment.