Second Trump Administration Could Be More Benevolent on Antitrust Enforcement – ​​JPMorgan

JPMorgan believes a potential second Donald Trump administration in the US could be more lenient when it comes to antitrust enforcement.

The Trump administration, which was in office from 2017 to 2021, launched investigations into tech giants that were then continued by the government of current President Joe Biden.

During the Biden administration, major events on the antitrust front included a civil lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in January 2023 against Alphabet (GOOG)(GOOGL) Google for allegedly monopolizing digital advertising technology, and another lawsuit filed by the DOJ in March of this year against Apple (AAPL) for allegedly monopolizing the smartphone market.

Meanwhile, Meta Platforms (META), which originated from Facebook, has also become a target of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

“The Biden Administration has taken an aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement. Google, Meta (META) and (National Association of Realtors) are some of the more prominent names that have come under the microscope of the Department of Justice and the FTC,” JPMorgan’s Michael Feroli said in a research note on Friday.

“A second Trump administration would likely take a more lenient approach to enforcing relevant laws,” the analyst said.

“Despite this, some conservatives are becoming increasingly open to vigorous competition policy, earning the nickname ‘Khan Conservatives’ in reference to current FTC Chair Lina Khan,” Feroli added.

The analyst also noted that the Heritage Foundation 2025 project “is subject to antitrust enforcement actions against Big Tech.”

The project, known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, is an effort to build the policies and programs of a conservative administration that would begin in January 2025 if Trump wins.

In the project’s policy agenda, the chapter on the FTC highlights several developments that “many, but not all, conservatives believe” may warrant “careful calibration of certain aspects of antitrust and consumer protection law and enforcement.”

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