Second Trump administration may be more lenient towards antitrust enforcement – JPMorgan

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

The Trump administration, which was in power from 2017 to 2021, notably launched investigations into tech giants, which were then pursued by government of incumbent President Joe Biden.

Under the Biden administration, major developments on the antitrust front include a civil lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in January 2023 against Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google for its alleged monopoly on digital advertising technologies, and another DOJ lawsuit filed in March of this year year against Apple (AAPL) for allegedly monopolizing smartphone markets.

Meanwhile, Meta Platforms (META), which originated from Facebook, have also become targets 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 just a few of the more prominent names that have come under scrutiny from the Justice Department and FTC,” JPMorgan’s Michael Feroli said in a research note Friday.

“The second Trump administration will 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 develop the policies and programs of a conservative administration that would begin operations in January 2025 if Trump wins.

In the bill’s policy agenda, the FTC chapter outlines several changes that “many but not all conservatives believe” warrant the agency to “carefully recalibrate aspects of antitrust and consumer protection law and enforcement.”

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