Recent Trump investments reignite concerns around potential conflicts of interest

By CNN Newsource

Published January 17, 2026 3:51 PM

By Auzinea Bacon, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump purchased up to $2 million in Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery investments days after the announcement of a megadeal between the two media giants, among other purchases, according to a financial disclosure from the White House, renewing questions from ethics experts around potential conflicts of interest.

The disclosure, which is required by the Office of Government Ethics and was initially submitted on Wednesday, showed 191 financial transactions, including two sales worth at least $1.25 million and up to $51 million worth of corporate and municipal bonds. It’s unclear exactly how much Trump purchased or sold because of the broad ranges of amounts in the report, some of which are listed between $1 million and $5 million.

The investments were made between November 14 and December 19.

A White House official told CNN that Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions.

“All holdings are maintained in discretionary accounts and invested through computer-based model portfolios that automatically replicate recognized indexes, such as the Schwab 1000,” the White House said. “Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold. All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers.”

Potential conflicts of interest

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.”

At the start of Trump’s term, the Trump Organization announced an ethics plan that stated Trump would “have no involvement” in the management of his business empire. But the plan didn’t call for him to divest from anything or recuse himself from any matters.

Trump’s purchase of Netflix and other corporate bonds are another “sliver” of potential conflicts, in addition to concerns about the president’s cryptocurrency involvements, said Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush and a University of Minnesota Law professor, in a phone interview with CNN.

“This is just one more investment that might very well conflict with his official duties, but by no means is it the most serious,” he added.

It’s “unprecedented” for Trump to not avoid conflicts of interest as much as possible, said Painter. “Every other president has voluntarily avoided conflicts of interest, even though the conflict of interest statute doesn’t apply to the president,” he said.

Details on Trump’s investments

Trump’s recent investments included two purchases of Netflix bonds and two purchases of Discovery Communications bonds, individually worth between $250,001 and $500,000. The purchases were made on December 12 and December 16.

Discovery Communications is part of the Warner Bros. Discovery brand. On December 5, Netflix announced it planned to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion, plus debt. The acquisition would include Warner Bros. Discovery’s TV and movie studio, and assets like the HBO streaming service.

Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN, which is not part of the Netflix deal. Warner Bros. Discovery has said it is moving forward with its plans to split into two publicly traded halves in 2026. Once the split takes effect, Netflix intends to acquire the Warner half. The other half, Discovery Global, will house CNN and other cable channels.

On December 8, Paramount initiated a hostile takeover of Warner Bros. to prevent the sale to Netflix. Despite pressure from Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery has signaled Netflix is its preferred buyer and its board rejected Paramount’s bid on January 7.

Paramount CEO David Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, have been closely tied to Trump. While Larry Ellison did not publicly endorse or donate to Trump’s 2024 campaign, he hosted a fundraiser for Trump in 2020 and is leading a group of investors who will buy and oversee the bulk of TikTok’s US assets.

A day before Paramount’s hostile takeover announcement, Trump said he’d be “involved” in the regulatory decisions on whether to allow the proposed sale of Warner Bros. to Netflix.

Trump’s disclosure submitted to the ethics office also included purchases of debt for aircraft maker Boeing, retailers Macy’s and Victoria’s Secret and automaker General Motors.

CNN’s Hadas Gold, Brian Stelter and Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.