Making deals is a hallmark of the Trump administration. Take import tariffs, where much touted “dealmaking” translates to threats and coercion as the major tactic for igniting and fighting a trade war. The result has been market volatility and higher prices for consumer goods that will, in the end, hit working Americans in their paychecks and pocketbooks. This approach is spilling into antitrust and regulation, with interference by the Trump White House in government oversight of corporate consolidation. We see it in the granting of favors to companies that curry favor with the administration, the weaponization of enforcement and policy levers to punish corporations that are perceived enemies, and exercising political power simply for the sake of doing so.
Interference risks disruption to markets and competition. And the burden of these distortions will be borne by American consumers through higher prices and slower economic growth—raising their already high cost of living and embattled standard of living. Decisions on whether mergers or business practices violate federal antitrust law or regulatory statutes have—at all other times—been reserved for independent enforcers at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), sector regulators with competition mandates, and even the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
This is changing. Interference by the Trump White House in these important decisions is trending up. Usurpation of antitrust enforcement and regulatory decision-making deprives American consumers of the benefits of independent, expert government agency oversight. This risks compromising due process, the rule of law and, ultimately, the benefits of promoting competition and protecting consumer welfare. There are mounting examples of how antitrust and regulation are being weaponized by the Trump agencies.
