Trump’s Tantrums Are Turning Europeans Off Netflix
A wave of anti-Americanism sweeping the continent is now affecting the streaming giant’s business.
Pool/Getty Images
Donald Trump’s tariffs and outbursts targeting Europe are contributing to a drop in demand for Netflix on the continent, analysts say.
Alejandro Rojas, an analyst with Parrot Analytics, told the New York Times that softening European demand for Netflix “seems to reflect anti-American sentiment.”
“For instance, Denmark Q1 net adds estimates declined more than 80 percent after Trump’s comments about Greenland,” Rojas told the DealBook newsletter, referring to the estimated number of net new subscribers added in the first three months of the year.
Trump has sparked fury in Denmark with his bullish attempts to “acquire” Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory. Tensions between the U.S. and Denmark frayed even further after disparaging comments made by JD Vance during a diplomatic trip to Greenland last month.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple: you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a press conference last month. “You have underinvested in the people of Greenland and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass.”
Netflix’s net adds estimates fell in other European countries, too.
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“Poland’s decline of 65 percent occurred right after the impasse with its prime minister,” Rojas told DealBook.
He added that France’s net adds predictions were slashed 26 percent in the same week that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the country should be grateful to the U.S. that it is “not speaking German right now.”
Her comment came in response to a French politician calling for America to return the Statue of Liberty to France, accusing the U.S. of siding with “tyrants.”
The Netflix logo is displayed at the entrance to Netflix Albuquerque Studios—the streaming giant remains the most popular platform in several overseas markets.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
“Netflix is definitely impacted by the tariffs right now,” Laurent Yoon, an analyst at Bernstein, told DealBook. “But longer term, I’m not sure it’ll be as much of a factor.”
Yoon highlighted that in some markets—including Britain, Germany, Italy, and France—Netflix remains the number one streaming platform by a wide margin, even with a drop in subscriptions.
“If you hate America, what are you going to do?” said Yoon. “Stare at the wall?”
The Daily Beast has contacted Netflix for comment.
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