Earlier this month, Trump’s Department of Justice came for journalists with an antitrust investigation into five major TV networks for deciding to briefly suspend their pooled coverage of the President following his ban on CNN. 

Former DOJ Antitrust Chief Jonathan Kanter rightly called the actions by the TV stations “not even in the same zip code of an antitrust violation.”

Kanter is right. But the investigation is still revealing. It shows just how skewed this DOJ’s concept of antitrust law is. When actual antitrust issues land on its desk — adjudicated monopolies, violated court orders, presumptively illegal mega-mergers — the department is nowhere to be found. Or even worse, it intervenes to actually enable clear corruption and antitrust violations.

Below are five real antitrust cases where the DOJ looked the other way — cases that are ripe for your further digging as reporters. 

1. Live Nation-Ticketmaster

• What the DOJ did: Settled its antitrust case just one week into trial in March 2026, without the knowledge of the plaintiff states or its own deputy trial counsel.
• What the DOJ should have done: Finished the trial and broken up the concert monopoly. The states continued their case, and on April 15, a jury unanimously found Live Nation liable for willful monopolization and an illegal monopolist. 
• The corruption: Days after President Trump met with Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino in the Oval Office and asked why the company hadn’t settled, the DOJ abandoned the trial. Rapino had visited the White House twice before the reversal, per the WSJ. Former DOJ antitrust deputy Roger Alford warned in 2025 that Live Nation paid MAGA-aligned lobbyists, including Mike Davis and KellyAnne Conway, to press its interests inside the department. Trump’s appointee to lead the Kennedy Center, Richard Grenell, was appointed to Live Nation’s Board of Directors. Read AELP’s more fulsome account of the corrupt intermeddling here.

2. Nexstar-Tegna

• What the DOJ did: Cleared the way for Nexstar’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, despite the deal’s enormous implications for local broadcasting competition. The FCC also approved it without a commission vote.
• What DOJ should have done: Thoroughly scrutinized and challenged a merger that would create the nation’s largest local television broadcaster.
• The corruption: Nexstar pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its stations after the FCC chairman’s public threats, while its merger sat before Trump’s regulators awaiting approval, earning Trump’s blessing. While states and DirecTV sued, and a federal judge temporarily blocked the merger, Nexstar installed its own executives on Tegna’s board in apparent defiance of the court’s order, prompting further court intervention.

3. Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery

• What the DOJ did: Declined to challenge the largest media merger in history, overruling the department’s top antitrust experts. The DOJ then intervened on Paramount’s side, backing its demand that the state enforcers and the Writers Guild post a $1.88 billion bond for suing.
• What the DOJ should have done: Conducted an independent, rigorous review and challenged a deal with profound consequences for competition in film & TV production, streaming, and news. 
• The corruption: DOJ’s actions follow tens of millions in donations to Trump from CEO David Ellison and his father, billionaire Larry Ellison. As the DOJ considered an investigation, the Ellisons also threw a private party for Trump and coordinated a White House UFC fight for Trump’s birthday. The Ellisons also reportedly promised Trump-friendly changes in news programming.

4. Compass-Anywhere Real Estate

• What the DOJ did: Allowed the $1.6 billion merger between the country’s two largest residential real estate brokerage firms to close without even issuing a Second Request for additional information.
• What the DOJ should have done: Opened the in-depth investigation that career staff and the DOJ’s antitrust chief reportedly wanted. 
• The corruption: After Antitrust Division leadership sought a more extensive review, Compass hired politically connected insiders — including lobbyist Mike Davis — and privately approached DOJ leadership, including then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which overruled the Antitrust Division. Weeks later, antitrust chief Gail Slater was out. 

5. Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks

• What the DOJ did: Abandoned its challenge to HPE’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks through a last-minute settlement that overruled the Antitrust Division’s own staff.
• What the DOJ should have done: Defended its challenge and blocked the merger that created a wireless networking giant.
• The corruption: After Trump-connected political operatives lobbied on HPE’s behalf, DOJ leadership overruled its antitrust chief who opposed the settlement, and forced out two top Antitrust Division officials due to the objections, as well.

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