Trump Demands Netflix Fire Susan Rice, But CEO Calls Deal “Business Matters”

President Donald Trump demanded that Netflix fire former Barack Obama administration official Susan Rice from its board on social media, but Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos dismissed the request as a business matter.

In an interview with the BBC’s “Today” program on Monday, Sarandos stated: “This is a business deal. It’s not a political deal.” He added that the company’s pending $70 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is regulated by U.S. Department of Justice and international regulators throughout Europe and around the world.

The president’s comments followed his weekend post on Truth Social urging Netflix to either fire Rice or “pay the consequences,” intensifying tensions between the White House and the streaming service as regulatory bodies prepare to review the proposed acquisition.

Conservative influencer Laura Loomer accused Rice of advancing an agenda of “retribution” should Democrats regain control of Congress.

In a recent interview on the podcast “Stay Tuned with Preet,” hosted by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, Rice warned corporations that align with Trump to take a knee would face accountability if Democrats return to power: “If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are going to … forgive you for all the people you fired, all the policies and principles you’ve violated, I think they’ve got another thing coming.”

When asked by the BBC whether Trump’s involvement was significant, Sarandos remarked: “He likes to do a lot of things on social media.”

The situation comes as Netflix competes with Paramount for control of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal requiring approval from the Justice Department’s antitrust division.

Sarandos has previously defended Netflix against claims of political bias by arguing YouTube remains its largest competitor and that the company must scale in an increasingly crowded market.