Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison will be in attendance at Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The news comes hours after his studio upped its bid for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery to $31 per share.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X Tuesday afternoon that Ellison will be his guest at Trump’s address.
Reps for Paramount Skydance did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Warner Bros. Discovery said in a press release on Tuesday that the WBD board “had not made a determination” whether or not Paramount’s offer is “superior” to the deal currently in place with Netflix. If Paramount’s new bid is preferable, Netflix will “have four business days after such determination to negotiate with WBD and to propose any revisions to the Netflix transaction.”
Netflix’s deal is around $83 billion for just Warner Bros. studios and HBO Max. Paramount wants all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its linear assets, for $112 billion. Since Netflix’s agreement is still in effect, the WBD board will continue to recommend the deal with the streaming giant, which will go to a shareholder vote on March 20.
Along with the increased purchasing power of $31 per share, Paramount’s latest offer also includes a ticking fee of 25 cents per quarter starting after Sept. 30, as well as a $7 billion breakup fee if the deal doesn’t clear regulatory scrutiny. Paramount also offered to pay the $2.8 billion fee for Warner Bros. if it terminates its merger with Netflix.
News of the new deal came at the end of a seven day negotiating window, during which Netflix allowed WBD to “seek clarity” on Paramount’s “best and final offer.”
Some have interpreted Paramount as having the upper hand in the regulatory battle for Warner Bros. since Larry Ellison, David’s mega-billionaire father, is a longtime Trump supporter. However, in a Truth Social post in Dec. 2025, the president deflected this theory, saying of the Ellisons, “If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!”
“For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that ’60 Minutes’ has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover,’ than they have ever treated me before,” Trump wrote.
While Trump told NBC in early February that he thought he “shouldn’t be involved” with regulating the Warner Bros. deal, he appeared to backtrack on this stance on Feb. 21, when he demanded Netflix “immediately” fire board member Susan Rice or “pay the consequences.”
“Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences,” Trump wrote. “She’s got no talent or skills – Purely a political hack! HER POWER IS GONE, AND WILL NEVER BE BACK. How much is she being paid, and for what??? Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT.”
English (US) ·