U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged there "could be a problem" with Netflix's plan to acquire Warner Bros.

Netflix executives officially announced on Friday that they had struck a landmark $82.7 billion industry-changing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to acquire its Warner Bros. film and TV studio, as well as the channel HBO and streaming service HBO Max.

Addressing the proposed merger at Sunday night's Kennedy Center Honors in Washington D.C., Trump said that he will be personally involved in the decision to approve the deal, which would result in a "very big market share".

"Well, that's gotta go through a process, and we'll see what happens," he shared. "Netflix is a great company. They've done a phenomenal job. Ted (Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO) is a fantastic man. I have a lot of respect for him. But it's a lot of market share, so we'll have to see what happens."

When asked if Netflix officials "should be allowed" to buy Warner Bros., Trump replied, "Well, that's the question. They have a very big market share, and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot. So I don't know. That's going to be for some economists to tell."

Trump noted that Sarandos visited him in the White House last week and he has "a lot of respect" for the businessman.

"He's done one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things. He's got a lot of interesting things happening aside from what you're talking about, but it is a big market share," he added. "There's no question about it. It could be a problem."

According to Netflix, the transaction is expected to close after WBD officials separate their Streaming & Studios and Global Networks divisions into two separate publicly traded companies around Q3 2026.

However, the deal will first have to undergo major regulatory scrutiny. The U.S. Justice Department's competition division will have to decide if the combined businesses would account for too much of the streaming market.

Representatives for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) called for the merger to be blocked in a statement on Friday.

"The world's largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent," they declared. "The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers."