Paramount Hires Another Ex-Trump Administration Official as SVP of Public Policy
February 16, 2026
Paramount Skydance has named Rene Augustine to the position SVP of global public policy, reporting to chief legal officer Makan Delrahim.
Augustine, like Delrahim, are former officials with the Trump Administration — a key fact as Paramount attempts to secure a hostile bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $108.4 billion, and deliver the acquisition across the regulatory finish line.
WBD currently has an accepted $83 billion all-cash deal from Netflix for its streaming and studio assets.
Augustine reportedly served in the Trump administration as a special assistant to the president and senior associate counsel in the office of White House Counsel, according to Reuters.
Delrahim was the antitrust boss at the Justice Department during Trump’s first term as president.
Augustine served as deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the Justice Department from 2019 to 2021.
“In her role, Rene will be responsible for developing strategic policies that advance our business objectives and building key diplomatic relationships that are important for advancing those objectives globally,” Delrahim said in a statement.
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