President Donald Trump told NBC News on Wednesday that he will not get involved in Netflix and Paramount Skydance's dispute over owning Warner Bros. Discovery.
"I haven't been involved," Trump said. "I must say, I guess I'm considered to be a very strong president. I've been called by both sides."
"It's the two sides, but I've decided I shouldn't be involved," Trump added. "The Justice Department will handle it."
Trump said he has been keeping abreast of the war of words between the two companies.
"There's a theory that one of the companies is too big and it shouldn't be allowed to do it, and the other company is saying something else," Trump said.
"They're beating the hell out of each other — and there'll be a winner," the president added.
Both Netflix and Paramount Skydance covet Warner Bros. for its leading film and television studios, extensive content library, and major franchises such as "Game of Thrones," "Harry Potter," and DC Comics superheroes Batman and Superman.
Paramount has argued it will have an easier regulatory path to approval.
But Warner Bros. has repeatedly rejected offers from Paramount, which would wind up deep in debt to finance the transaction.
Paramount's CEO is David Ellison, whose father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, has cultivated a close relationship with Trump.
Lawmakers from both political parties have voiced concerns that the deal will reduce competition in the streaming market.
Netflix has pointed to statistics by the media analysis firm Nielsen that say Google's YouTube accounts for more viewing time on U.S. televisions than other streaming service.
But experts say the Department of Justice is likely to analyze how the deal affects competition in a more specific market, such as streaming platforms that charge a monthly fee.
Netflix's proposed acquisition includes only Warner's studio and streaming business, including its legacy TV and movie production arms and platforms such as HBO Max.
But Paramount's bid is for the entire company — which, beyond studio and streaming, includes its news and cable operations. That would put CNN under the same roof as CBS.
If Netflix were successful, Warner's current networks would be spun off into their own company called Discovery Global, under a previously announced separation.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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