President Trump purchased at least $1 million in Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery bonds within two weeks of the companies announcing their massive $82.7 billion merger deal, according to financial disclosure forms released Friday by the White House.
The timing raises eyebrows, even if it doesn't quite rise to the level of smoking-gun insider trading.
## The Timeline That Matters
On December 5, Netflix and WBD announced their blockbuster deal. Under the terms, Netflix would acquire Warner Bros. studios, HBO, HBO Max, and WBD's gaming division while spinning off WBD's traditional TV networks into a separate company called Discovery Global.
Between December 12 and December 16, Trump bought between $250,001 and $500,000 in Netflix bonds on two separate occasions. He made identical purchases of Warner Bros. Discovery bonds on the same dates. Financial disclosure forms only provide ranges, so we know the minimum was north of $1 million total.
Oh, and Trump also met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at the White House in December to "discuss" the Warner Bros. Discovery deal.
## The White House Defense
According to the White House, Trump's financial portfolio is "independently managed by third-party financial institutions" and neither Trump nor his family has "any ability to direct, influence or provide input" on investment decisions.
That's the standard blind trust language. Whether you find it convincing probably depends on how much faith you have in Chinese walls at financial institutions managing a sitting president's money while he's publicly commenting on the exact deals they're investing in.
## Why This Gets Complicated
Bonds aren't stocks. When you buy corporate bonds, you're lending money to a company and collecting interest. Bond prices can move on merger news, but they're generally less volatile than equity.
That said, bonds absolutely move on merger announcements, especially when we're talking about an $82.7 billion deal that restructures two major media companies. Netflix bonds likely got a bump from the company's increased scale and content library. WBD bonds could have moved on debt restructuring expectations.
The president buying bonds in companies involved in a merger he's publicly said will "require a review" and that he'll ? That's not a great look.
