Trump demands removal of Democrat Susan Rice from Netflix board, calling her a "political hack"

Donald Trump has called for the removal of Democratic foreign policy expert Susan Rice from the Netflix board, warning that the streaming platform would "face the consequences" if it doesn't fire her.

Posting to Truth Social, Trump described Rice, who served as national security adviser to Barack Obama, as well as UN ambassador and White House adviser under Joe Biden, as a "political hack", saying she has "no talent or skills".

Trump also shared a post by the rightwing influencer Laura Loomer on X, who called Rice and Netflix "anti-American", accusing her of "threatening half of the country with weaponised government and political retribution for choosing who they wanted to vote for as president".

Rice was a member of Netflix’s board from 2018 to 2020, before leaving to work for the Biden administration. She rejoined in 2023, and is currently part of the company’s nominating and governance committee.

On February 19, she made an appearance on the Stay Tuned with Preet podcast, hosted by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. There, she said that corporations and law firms that have showed loyalty to Trump will be held accountable if the Democrats return to power.

Last December, Warner Bros agreed to a takeover offer from Netflix for a portion of its assets. In response, Paramount Skydance submitted a competing offer, starting a corporate bidding battle.

Despite Trump's promises about not getting involved in the case from earlier this month, his comments regarding Rice and Netflix raised concern about the US president taking over the Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) negotiations.

In October 2024, Trump filed a lawsuit, alleging Paramount had deceptively edited an interview with his presidential election rival Kamala Harris, to "tip the scales in favour of the Democratic party". The suit was settled last July, with Paramount paying Trump $16m (€13.5m).

CEO of Netflix Ted Sarandos commented at last night's Bafta Film Awards about Trump getting involved in the battle, saying that: "this is a business deal" and not a political one, adding that Trump "likes to do a lot of things on social media".

Under the Netflix deal, the streaming company’s film and tv series library would take control of WBD’s assets including Warner Bros, the studio behind franchises including Harry Potter, Superman and Batman, as well as HBO, known for Game of Thrones,The White Lotus and Succession.

The tie-up between Netflix and Paramount has faced backlash from many politicians and entertainment industry figures, including Mark Ruffalo. He voiced his concerns about both proposals excessively consolidating power with one owner, referring to the corporate battle as "monopolisation".

Paramount has been given until the end of today, Monday 23, to table its final offer for WBD, currently competing with Netflix’s $82.7bn (€70.1bn).