Drone footage of the Netflix logo on one of the company’s buildings in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA, on January 20, 2026.
Daniel Cole | Reuters
President Donald Trump made the call late Saturday. Netflix Democrats must fire board member Susan Rice or “pay the consequences” after saying they would hold corporations accountable if they regain power in November’s midterm elections.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump described Rice, who served as President Joe Biden’s domestic policy chief and held top foreign policy posts under President Barack Obama, as “purely a political hack” with “no talent or skill.”
“Her power is gone and will never return,” Trump wrote.
Rice argued on a podcast last week that the companies, news organizations and law firms that “bend the knee” to President Trump “will not end well” and that their deference is in disrepute.
Rice told Preet Bharara, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, “There’s a good chance it will swing in the other direction and you’ll be arrested with more than your pants down.” “They will be held accountable by the people who opposed Trump and won at the polls.”
He added: “If these companies think that if Democrats come back in power they’re going to follow the old rules and say, ‘Never mind, we’ll forgive all the people you fired, all the policies and principles you violated, all the laws you circumvented,’ I think they’ll do something else.”
Rice served on Netflix’s board from 2018 to 2021, returning in 2023 after leaving the Biden administration.
Representatives for Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.
President Trump’s comments came as the Justice Department is considering a proposed takeover of Netflix. warner bros discovery. Trump told NBC News earlier this month that the Justice Department would “handle” the deal and that he would be involved in the process, but that he would not be involved in its review.
Netflix is proposing to acquire WBD in a $72 billion deal that does not include its cable networks, which include CNN.
paramount skydanceIn response, it launched a hostile takeover of all of WBD, promising shareholders $30 per share in an all-cash deal.
The Justice Department is investigating whether Netflix’s proposed deal could harm competition, and is also asking how the company’s past acquisitions have affected competition for creative talent, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.
As part of its review, the agency is also looking into whether streaming giants are using anticompetitive tactics in negotiations with independent content producers to acquire programming, Bloomberg reported, citing documents.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said last month that he was confident the company could win regulatory approval “because this is a pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker deal.”
