SAN FRANCISCO – US antitrust watchdogs who attacked Big Tech and blocked corporate dealmaking throughout President Joe Biden’s administration may be kept in check for less time by Donald Trump after he returns to the White House next year.

Even as regulators begin to crack down on tech powerhouses like google And Facebook During Trump’s first term as president, most experts expect his second administration to ease antitrust enforcement and be more open to mergers and deal-making after years of extreme caution under Biden’s watch.

One of the biggest reasons underlying the expected turnaround stems from the widespread belief that the chief architects of the Biden administration’s hardline stance – Lina Khan of the US Federal Trade Commission and Jonathan Kanter of the Department of Justice – will not be part of Trump’s side. Regime.

Both the Department of Justice and the FTC did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s billionaire announcement Elon Musk, who once dubbed himself “Technoking” to oversee an advisory effort focused on cutting government spending, may eventually reduce the number of staff and regulators trying to rein in deep-pocketed companies.

And Trump’s nomination of combative supporter Matt Gaetz to be U.S. Attorney General has added even more uncertainty to the game. Gaetz had previously reacted harshly to the policies of social media platforms, which he claimed suppressed conservative views, and occasionally participated in calls. To break up Big Tech. He also has a track record of supporting causes that Trump has proclaimed.

John Kwoka, an economics professor at Northeastern University who works periodically on antitrust issues with the FTC and the Department of Justice, predicts “there will be some fundamental changes” in antitrust policies. “The impact of life on politics, and that’s not something one person has ever whispered into the President’s ear before.”

Other experts interviewed by The Associated Press mostly agreed with Kwoka. But they also believe the expected shift is unlikely to result in regulators abandoning existing antitrust cases against Big Tech companies; This is partly because these legal showdowns are combined with populist concerns about the growing power of the industry and its impact on people’s lives.

“We’re in uncharted territory, but the idea of ​​standing up to Big Tech still has some legs,” said Rebecca Allensworth, a Vanderbilt University law professor who tracks antitrust issues.

But a changing of the guard could open the door for Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook to avoid protracted court battles and negotiate a settlement under a deal-making president.

“Perhaps Big Tech should buy a copy of ‘The Art of the Deal’ to figure out how to best negotiate with this administration,” said Paul Swanson, an antitrust attorney with the law firm Holland & Hart. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they find ways to reach some compromises and we see more negotiated resolutions and consent decrees.”

While the outcome of the current antitrust lawsuits remains in the realm of pure speculation, nearly everyone believes the Trump administration will be more open to mergers, which often come with the promise of lower costs and other benefits to consumers.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a research note after Trump’s re-election that the stage is set for “a golden age of deal flow between public and private technology players over the next 12 to 18 months.”

That belief, a belief widely shared by most investors, has led to a rise in the overall stock market since Election Day and boosted shares of companies trying to close deals announced during the Biden administration. One such example includes Capital One Financial and Discover, which aim to complete their merger with a stock swap next year. Capital One’s market cap increased by 11%, while Discover’s market cap increased by 16%.

The change in management could also impact a proposed $24.6 billion deal between the nation’s two largest supermarket chains, Kroger and Albertsons, to merge in 2022. However, the FTC filed suit in federal court Earlier this year, it moved to block the merger, claiming the deal would eliminate competition and lead to higher prices and lower wages for workers. But the two companies say the merger will help them lower prices and compete with larger rivals like Walmart.

Given that grocery prices remain a hot topic among consumers still feeling shocked by post-pandemic increases in inflation, Allensworth believes the Trump administration is less likely to “abandon or soft-pedal” the FTC’s challenge to the Kroger-Albertsons merger.

In another case welcomed by many consumers, the Justice Department is seeking to break up Ticketmaster and its corporate parent Live Nation in a case He claims their practices increase the cost of concerts and other entertainment.

Despite grassroots support for the cause, Live Nation executives are signaling they think they can preserve the current system under a Trump presidency.

“We hope to see a return to the more traditional approach to antitrust, where agencies try to find ways to solve problems they see, often with targeted solutions that minimize government intervention in the market,” Live Nation President Joe Berchtold said. during a conference call with investors shortly after the election.

Agreements undermined by the Biden administration may find new life under Trump’s command. American and JetBlue are already considering reviving a partnership after an earlier proposal was undermined by a legal challenge from Biden’s antitrust team; This decision was recently upheld by the Boston court of appeals.

“We’re still taking a look,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said shortly after the election. “We will take everything the court has to give feedback and take it into account.”

Colin Kass, an antitrust attorney at the law firm Proskauer Rose, said similar conversations could occur among other executives who are reexamining seemingly off-limits deals during the Biden administration:

“There are almost certainly deals that people have put the brakes on because of antitrust concerns, and they will be reviewed to determine whether they still make economic sense,” Kass said. “Then they will submit this to the Department of Justice. And if a fix needs to be made, it’s more likely to be fixed rather than prevented entirely. That’s why it’s worth taking the risk to make these deals happen.”

As for efforts to dismantle Big Tech monopolies, the Trump administration’s first lawsuit against Google is now in the hands of the United States. A federal judge ruled in August That the company’s dominant search engine is an illegal monopoly. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., is currently weighing what sentence to impose on Google. A decision is expected by August next year.

In a preliminary offer applied last monthThe Justice Department has indicated it may try to persuade Mehta to order the breakup of significant parts of Google to restore competition.

The Ministry of Justice’s final draft of recommended sentences will be released this Wednesday. Attorney David Olson said the filing is unlikely to be affected by the prospect of the Trump administration taking over next January, as Kanter and the rest of the team he has assembled at Justice get one last chance to state their case against Google. Boston College professor.

A reassigned team of Trump-appointed antitrust regulators may back away from the position laid out in the Nov. 20 filing and take a different stance next spring when Mehta presides over hearings on the proposed penalties.

“It’s disheartening to see this,” Kwoka said. “A tougher policy was needed because tech companies in particular had been allowed to operate without any serious restrictions for 20 years. Then we all realized that it would take more than four years to create a tougher policy and demonstrate its benefits. Now that may not happen.”

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AP Business Writer Dee-Ann Durbin and AP Business Writer Dave Koenig contributed to this story.