With Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, major tech companies are navigating the complex landscape of antitrust litigation. Despite efforts to appease the administration, legal challenges against Google, Meta, and Amazon are ongoing, raising significant questions about the future of these tech giants.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Apple CEO Tim Cook were among the tech leaders who attended Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. Google, Meta, and Cook personally each donated $1 million to the inauguration committee, and both Google and Meta have scaled back diversity and content moderation programs that Trump had criticized. However, those moves haven’t halted the government’s legal actions, which were initiated during his previous term and the subsequent Biden administration.
Stanford Law School professor Mark Lemley noted that it’s uncertain if the tech companies’ outreach to Trump will influence his antitrust decisions, but there’s considerable evidence, Lemley said, that the administration intends to continue actively enforcing antitrust laws against big tech companies. Contributing to the signal of continued action, the U.S. Department of Justice restated its request, originally made under the Biden administration, that Google sell its popular Chrome internet browser.
“These cases are immensely consequential for these companies,” said Sam Weinstein, a former U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawyer. Weinstein, who is now a professor at the Cardozo School of Law, indicated that Google and Meta could face significant consequences, including potentially being broken up. He also suggested that changes sought in the Apple lawsuit “appear less of an existential threat,” but would still be a notable loss for the company. Amazon’s business model is also at risk, Weinstein added.
The Justice Department initiated a lawsuit against Google in 2020, concerning its internet search apps and related advertising. The government alleged there are deals with companies such as Apple and wireless carriers like AT&T were intended to maintain consumer monopolies. Google has refuted these claims, stating that users choose Google because they desire to do so. A federal court judge has ruled Google is a monopolist, and will weigh the Justice Department’s demand to force Google to sell Chrome, with evidentiary hearings set to begin in April.
In 2023, the Justice Department sued Google for allegedly holding a monopoly on software that places advertisements on web pages. Google has responded to the lawsuit by stating they don’t have such a monopoly and already exceed legal requirements.
The Justice Department has also filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging the company “illegally maintains a monopoly over smartphones.” The government seeks to limit Apple’s control over app distribution and bar contracts with third parties that support the monopoly, according to the lawsuit. Apple has responded by claiming the lawsuit hinges on the false concept that the success of the iPhone came through product degradation to block competition rather than innovation.
Meta’s Facebook is also under scrutiny, facing a 2020 lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC alleges Meta maintains a monopoly through the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. A trial in the case is set for April 14, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg scheduled to testify. The FTC has demanded that Meta be ordered to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, or “reconstruct” them. Meta has expressed confidence that its acquisitions have benefited competition and consumers, suggesting that the FTC action punishes innovation.
Amazon is also facing an FTC lawsuit from 2023, which claims the company engages in “exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging.” The company has responded that its practices, such as matching competitors’ prices and offering fast shipping, promote competition.
As these cases move forward, the appointment of Gail Slater to head the Justice Department’s antitrust division is drawing attention. Slater, a former FTC lawyer and former head attorney for a tech lobby group, has indicated that she will focus on anti-monopoly enforcement.
While the FTC and Justice Department have not clarified their commitment to these cases, state attorneys general could continue the lawsuits if the federal agencies drop them. However, Lemley believes that courts would be less likely to order major structural changes.
Weinstein noted that, given everything on the administration’s mind, “antitrust might be very far down to the bottom” of their priorities.
