NEW REPORT: WEAK TRUMP ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT AND BACKROOM DEALS ARE DRIVING UP COSTS FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES

TEXT OF REPORT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new report, Settling For Less: How Trump's weak antitrust enforcement and backroom deals are driving up costs, a comprehensive review of the second Trump Administration's record of toothless antitrust settlements, dismissed enforcement actions, and widespread approval of massive corporate mergers, apparently creating a pay-to-play system that drives up costs and hurts consumers.

Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) joined in releasing the report.

During his campaign, President Trump promised to "Make America Competitive Again" and lower costs "on day one." Instead, the Trump Administration has repeatedly sided with giant corporations, in some cases after the corporations made contributions to Trump's vanity projects, rather than standing up for working families.

The new report highlights how the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have approved major mergers with little scrutiny, overridden enforcement recommendations from career staff, and pursued weak settlements favoring large corporations, often based on the influence of Trump-connected corporate lobbyists. The report also raises concerns about potential pay-to-play arrangements, revealing that many of the corporations benefitting from President Trump's lax antitrust enforcement policies have contributed millions to President Trump's political committees and Trump-affiliated projects.

Specific topline findings of this investigation include:

1. The Trump Administration routinely rubber-stamps harmful corporate mergers that pose competition risks. Across real estate, media, telecommunications, retail, banking, airlines, health care, and entertainment industries, corporate giants have announced at least 330 large mergers totaling more than $2.2 trillion. These deals often cleared despite major antitrust concerns, serious warnings from expert career staff, and clear evidence that the mergers would harm consumers, workers, and small businesses.

• For example, following the Justice Department's approval of the Compass-Anywhere Real Estate merger over warnings from competition experts, Compass took control of up to 70% of home sales in some areas. That massive market power allows the company to dictate rules, squeeze out local brokerages, and hurt everyday homebuyers and sellers.

1. The Trump Administration routinely settles or dismisses antitrust enforcement actions without meaningful remedies. The Administration has allowed giant corporations facing antitrust lawsuits to settle with relatively small fines, narrow behavioral promises, no admissions of wrongdoing, and little or no restitution for the working families and small businesses harmed by the alleged anticompetitive conduct. In some cases, the Administration has simply walked away from a lawsuit, allowing alleged anticompetitive conduct to continue unchallenged.

• In May 2024, the Justice Department and a bipartisan coalition of states filed an antitrust lawsuit to break up Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster, alleging the company illegally monopolized the live entertainment industry and imposed inflated ticket prices and fees on millions of consumers. In 2025, Live Nation donated $500,000 to President Trump's inaugural committee and brought on board a network of Trump-connected lobbyists and allies. Following meetings with Live Nation's CEO and a reported phone call from President Trump directing the Justice Department to settle, the DOJ abruptly ended its lawsuit just one week into the trial. Instead of forcing a breakup of the company as originally sought, the government accepted a weak deal: minor rule changes at roughly twelve smaller venues and a fine equal to just four days of Live Nation's revenue. If state Attorneys General had not decided to continue the case and ultimately won a jury verdict against Ticketmaster, millions of fans would have continued to be squeezed by ticket fees.

1. The Trump Administration's weak antitrust enforcement appears to be driven by influence-peddling and is surrounded by a cloud of corruption. Corporations facing antitrust scrutiny have repeatedly hired lobbyists with ties to President Trump and senior Administration officials, made substantial contributions to President Trump's political committees or vanity projects, and promised changes to their business models that are aligned with President Trump's agenda in exchange for favorable enforcement decisions-mergers cleared, investigations dropped, or cases resolved through weak settlements. Combined, this recurring pattern suggests a pay-to-play system.

• Paramount hired Ballard Partners-a Trump-connected lobbying firm-while competing to acquire Warner Bros. Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount controlling owner David Ellison, donated $45 million to a political group supporting President Trump's 2024 election efforts. The Ellisons appeared to have cultivated what has been described as a "cozy alliance of mutual back-scratching" with President Trump as they sought approval for the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger. Paramount ultimately won the bid, and the merger received DOJ approval.

1. The Trump Administration's failure to enforce antitrust laws raises consumers' costs and limits choice. Across five vital sectors of the American economy-food and groceries, consumer goods, housing, health care, and media and entertainment-working families and small businesses stand to bear the brunt of the Administration's corporate giveaways and antitrust inaction.

"The evidence of the Administration's antitrust failures is woven directly into the daily budget of American households. Average monthly grocery bills have climbed to an all-time high, with some sources estimating the bill for a family of four at $1,430 a month. Average monthly rent hit a record high during this Administration at $1,910/month. The monthly price of health insurance has surged over 25 percent from 2025 to 2026 alone. And total U.S. credit card debt has soared to an all-time high of $1.28 trillion, while a February 2026 survey found that 53 percent of Americans do not have sufficient savings to cover a $1,000 emergency expense," the lawmakers wrote.

"Meanwhile, the corporations benefiting from the Administration's weak antitrust enforcement are enjoying an unprecedented windfall… The verdict on the Administration's antitrust record is clear: in a complete betrayal of President Trump's campaign promise to lower costs "on day one," federal enforcers have surrendered market oversight to corporate giants in industry after industry, leaving American families to pay the price," concluded the lawmakers.

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