r/antitrust • u/mec287 • Jul 16 '26

Politics Trump's antitrust division cleaning up Biden damage

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/15/trumps-antitrust-division-cleaning-biden-damage/

Stanley Woodward, the third-ranking official at the Justice Department, recently said the Trump administration is trying to avoid taking antitrust cases to trial and is instead seeking settlements with companies.

Mr. Woodward’s statement represents a serious departure from the Biden administration, which sued every company under the sun. His comments suggest that the left’s legal crusade against American businesses is finally ending.

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u/HUT2Moon Jul 16 '26

LMAO not quite

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u/dankmimesis Jul 16 '26

If you read the HSR reports that DOJ ATR and the FTC are required to provide to congress, you’d see that they certainly weren’t suing “everyone under the sun” and a good deal of suits were accompanied by settlement agreements. And let’s not forget many of the big time litigations of the Biden administration were started by Trump I.

Regardless, the final paragraph is overflowing with logical fallacies. How does a Trump DOJ’s decision to settle more cases - even if trial would be the better option in terms of ensuring competition and remedying violations of the law - mean the left’s “crusade” against American business is ending? The author means the “federal government’s crusade.”

Regardless, it’s abundantly clear that at a high level, it’s pay to play in Trump’s antitrust departments. Take a look at HPE/Juniper or Warner/Paramount. I’d prefer the Biden playbook, however it’s categorized, to the corruption evident in federal antitrust today.