Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-chief executive, will visit the White House on Feb. 26 (local time) to discuss political issues related to negotiations to acquire Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).

U.S. political news outlet Politico reported this on Feb. 25 (local time), citing multiple sources.

Netflix has agreed to acquire WBD’s streaming and studio business at $27.75 per share, for a total of $82.7 billion, and is undergoing U.S. Justice Department antitrust review. But the takeover battle intensified again after Paramount Skydance made a competing proposal to buy all of WBD at $31 per share. If the WBD board judges Paramount’s proposal as the preferred bidder, Netflix must present counter-terms within 4 days.

Political risk has also added to the situation. President Donald Trump warned on his social media platform Truth Social on Feb. 21: "Netflix must immediately fire Susan Rice, or it will pay the price." Rice, a Democrat who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and White House national security adviser in the Obama administration, currently sits on Netflix’s board. Trump was angered after Rice said on a recent podcast: "Companies that kneel to Trump will be held accountable when the Democrats regain power."

Sarandos told Variety in an interview, "This is a business deal, not a political deal," drawing a line. Still, it is unclear whether the White House visit will include a direct meeting with Trump, the report said.

Trump has close ties with rival Paramount. David Ellison, Paramount’s chief executive, is the son of Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, a longtime friend of Trump, and Ellison recently attended a state of the union address at the invitation of a Trump confidant.