Trump Invests in Netflix, Raising New Questions About Power and Influence
What does it mean when the government chooses to invest in a streaming network, especially one of the biggest streaming networks in the world? What does that mean for the government as a whole? What does it mean for the streaming network? What does it mean for the millions of customers who subscribe to this network?
Last week, President Donald Trump was announced as an investor in Netflix. Writer Auzinea Bacon, in their 2026 article for CNN, “Recent Trump Investments Reignite Concerns Around Potential Conflicts of Interest”, writes, “Experts say Trump’s financial interests in Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery may raise questions about conflicts of interest. ‘The president’s investments in these two companies now pose ethical concerns because the president has said he will be directly involved in decisions regarding the merger,’ Ann Skeet, the senior director of leadership ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, told CNN. ‘This sets up the potential for a conflict of interest due to his involvement in regulatory oversight of the deal. The president should be making decisions prioritizing the interests of the public solely.’”
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Trump has invested money into Netflix is less about revenue and more about access. Businessmen and Politicians sometimes tend to move in the same circles because ultimately both of them want one thing: access. Access to information, access to opportunity, access to public opinion. All three forms the perfect strategy that would be impossible to ignore. What does it mean when one man has access to all of this by just a flick of his pen and a tear in his check book?
Research shows that as of 2025, Netflix currently has approximately 325 million global users. It takes a very intricate business ecosystem to run a corporation like Netflix. It takes strategic partnerships with ad agencies, product endorsements, industry influence – television, film, music, and podcasts -. And it involves a powerhouse team of legal, finance, and customer personnel who are hired to ensure access continues to be purchased.
Trump has built his brand on good business and has become known for financial moves that were both political and polarizing. This is the second time he is occupying a job he was clearly fired from. He has access to executives who can give him access to databases that can be used to create propaganda.
And in today’s cultural zeitgeist, the primary economic vehicle is curated propaganda through a popular streaming service. What does it mean when politics becomes a subscriber?
