DONALD TRUMP HAS said a deal struck by Netflix to buy Warner Bros Discovery “could be a problem” due to its combined market share, just days after the pair announced the 72 billion dollar (€61.8 billion) mega deal.

The US President confirmed he would be involved in the decision about whether the US federal government should approve the takeover.

Streaming giant Netflix said last Friday it had agreed to buy the Warner Bros Discovery film and TV studios business in a move that could dramatically reshape the established Hollywood film and TV industry, which has already faced significant upheaval amid the rapid growth of streaming.

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It followed an auction process in which Netflix was the front-runner to buy the business, which owns HBO, streaming service HBO Max and franchises such as Harry Potter and Batman.

It had been up against Paramount Skydance and Sky owner Comcast.

When asked about the deal when he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honours on Sunday, Trump said: “There’s no question about it. It could be a problem.”

He said the deal has to “go through a process and we’ll see what happens”.

“Netflix is a great company. They’ve done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man,” he said of Netflix chief executive Ted Sarandos, adding that they met in the Oval Office last week before the deal was announced on 5 December.

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“I have a lot of respect for him, but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens.”

Asked if Netflix should be allowed to buy the Hollywood giant, Trump said: “Well that’s the question.

“They have a very big market share and when they have Warner Bros, you know, that share goes up a lot, so, I don’t know,” he said.

“I’ll be involved in that decision, too. But they have a very big market share”.

The deal would put two of the world’s biggest streaming services under the same ownership and join Warner’s television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with Netflix’s vast library and its production arm.

Trump said that Sarandos had made no guarantees at their meeting about the merger if it was approved, the US leader said, adding that the Netflix boss is a “great person” who has “done one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things”.

US unions called for the merger to be blocked last week soon after it was announced.

The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) – which represent writers in film, television, radio and online media – issued a joint statement on Friday urging regulators to stop the deal, claiming it would eliminate jobs, push down wages and worsen conditions for entertainment workers.

Netflix said it will pay 27.75 dollars (€23.82) per share to investors in the Warner Bros Discovery business.

If approved, the deal would close after Warner Bros Discovery completes a proposed spin-off of its cable channels, which include CNN, TBS and TNT Sports in the UK.