Donald Trump's White House victory could have a major impact on U.S. antitrust and high-tech policy, including two pending Justice Department lawsuits against Google.
Trump, a longtime critic of Google, has accused the company of political bias and election interference, but has recently expressed reluctance to break up the company. This is despite the fact that the Justice Department's lawsuit targeting the online search monopoly began in 2020, during President Trump's first term.
“That's a very risky thing to do because we want to have a great company.” President Trump said At an event held in Chicago last month. “We don't want China to have these companies. Right now China is afraid of Google.”
Google CEO Sundar Pichai was one of many technology CEOs on Wednesday. He congratulated Trump on his victory in the White House.
“Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his decisive victory,” Pichai wrote. “We are in a golden age of American innovation, and we are committed to working with the administration to benefit everyone.”
Google currently faces two Justice Department antitrust lawsuits that could change its business forever. One deal targets an online search empire, and the other deals with a digital advertising business. The Justice Department also has a pending antitrust case against Apple, while the Federal Trade Commission is suing Mark Zuckerberg's Meta and Amazon.
In August, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had an illegal monopoly on online search. But a separate trial to determine the appropriate remedy is expected to take place during President Trump's first term, and Mehta is not expected to make a decision until next summer.
This timeline would give President Trump and his Justice Department appointees the means to adjust their strategies.
“He is certainly in a position to control what the Justice Department does in the relief phase,” William Kovacic, a Republican and former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission under President George W. Bush, told Reuters. he said.
Last month, the Justice Department announced that among the remedies sought by the court was the forced sale of parts of Google's businesses, including the Chrome web browser.
In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, Trump boasted that Pichai complimented him on the phone about the recent popularity of a YouTube video showing the Republican campaign stopping serving fries at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania.
During his speech, President Trump called both Google and Apple “great companies.” A conversation with radio host Hugh Hewitt. He said Apple CEO Tim Cook recently called him to complain about the billions of dollars in fines his company currently faces in Europe.
The president-elect also criticized the European Union for increasing regulatory enforcement against U.S. tech companies.
“I think if you look at Google these days, you'll see that they're leaning more toward President Trump,” he said. “They're starting to like Trump, because they're starting to understand it.”
To the surprise of many, President Trump also expressed skepticism about continued efforts in Congress to force a sale or ban of Chinese-owned TikTok. A legal battle over the app's future is currently pending in federal court.
More broadly, President Trump's inauguration is expected to ease the regulatory environment for technology companies.
That includes various companies led by billionaire Elon Musk, who has become a key ally and mega-donor to the Trump campaign. During the Biden administration, Musk regularly complained about the red tape faced by SpaceX and Tesla.
President Trump has indicated that he intends to appoint Musk to head a new Government Efficiency Commission aimed at cutting wasteful spending and regulation at the federal level.
Trump is also almost certain to replace FTC Chair Lina Khan and SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Both men have led an aggressive crackdown on everything from mergers and acquisitions to cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence, which has rattled corporate leaders.
with post wire
