Will the antitrust showdown launched under Biden turn into 'Let's Make A Deal' under Trump?
The U.S. antitrust watchdogs that pounced on Big Tech and deterred dealmaking throughout corporate America during President Joe Biden’s administration may be tamer and kept on a shorter leash by President-elect Donald Trump after he returns to the Whit...
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. antitrust watchdogs that pounced on Big Tech and deterred corporate deal making throughout President Joe Biden's administration may be kept on a shorter leash by Donald Trump after he returns to the White House next year.
Although regulators began cracking down on tech powerhouses such as Google and Facebook during Trump's first term as president, most experts expect his second administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be more receptive to mergers and deal-making after years of hypervigilance under Biden's watch.
One of the biggest reasons underlying the anticipated pivot stems from the widespread belief that the chief architects of the Biden administration's get-tougher stance — Lina Khan of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department's Jonathan Kanter — won't be part of the Trump regime.
Both the Justice Department and FTC didn't respond to request for comment.
Trump's announcement of billionaire Elon Musk, who once anointed himself as “Technoking,” to oversee an advisory effort focused on slashing government spending could end up reducing the staffs and regulators trying to rein in deep-pocketed companies.
And Trump's nomination of combative supporter Matt Gaetz to be <a class=«zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE » data-testid=«prism-linkbase» href=«https://abcnews.go.com/nominee» to be u.s. attorney general>U.S. Attorney General
has thrown even more uncertainty into the game. Gaetz has
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