The Teamsters entertainment leader also would like to see Warners CEO David Zaslav “leave our industry and never come back,” she said in a recent interview.

That political dividend seemed apparent on Sunday, a day before Paramount launched its $108bn hostile play for WBD. At the Kennedy Center, Trump cast doubt on Netflix’s $83bn offer, noting the streamer already commands “a very big market share and when they have Warner Brothers that share goes up a lot”. He added: “It could be a problem.”

This Friday morning, Netflix announced plans to acquire Warner Bros. in an unprecedented deal valued at $82.7 billion. By fall 2026, when the acquisition is likely to complete, Netflix will own its former rival’s historic film and TV studios,

The move comes as the Supreme Court also appears poised to put antitrust enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission under his control.

The hack comes after Paramount CEO David Ellison reportedly told Trump administration officials that “sweeping changes” would be made at CNN if Paramount acquired Warner Bros. instead of Netflix.

Paramount’s $108.4 billion takeover led by David and Larry Ellison could give the family unprecedented control of major film studios.

The high-stakes battle to buy all or part of Warner Bros. Discovery goes on. But who needs it more to thrive in the future: Netflix or Paramount Skydance. Some thoughts

Paramount's David Ellison said that if Warner Bros. Discovery's board took his current offer, it would be "admitting breach of fiduciary duty."