Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is aggressively lobbying the Trump administration to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against the corporate before it goes to trial later this month, in line with a report Wednesday.
The Facebook founder, who has tried to cozy as much as President Trump since his election win, was spotted on the White House on Wednesday because the administration prepared to announce its latest trade policies, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The visit marked the third time that Zuckerberg has traveled to the White House since Trump took office. The terms of Meta’s proposed settlement weren’t known.
The FTC is looking for to interrupt up Meta by unwinding its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The agency has alleged that Meta bought the businesses as a way to stifle rising competitors before they might challenge its social media dominance. The trial is slated to start on April 14.
Some Trump administration officials have chafed over Meta’s tactics and feel the corporate has been too aggressive in calling for a settlement, sources told the Journal.
Trump has reportedly yet to make a call on whether to settle.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone declined to comment specifically on Zuckerberg’s appearance within the Oval Office.
“Mark’s continuing the meetings he’s been holding with the administration on American technology leadership,” Stone said in an announcement.
Representatives for the White House didn’t immediately return a request for comment. The FTC declined comment.
Trump has asserted renewed authority over the FTC since taking office, issuing an executive order meant to provide him more direct influence over the agency, which was traditionally seen as independent from the White House.
Last month, the president fired the agency’s two Democrat commissioners, who’ve since sued to reverse his move. Meanwhile, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, a Republican, has referred to the agency because the “Trump-Vance FTC” and backed the president’s decision.
Ferguson has vowed to stay aggressive in taking over anticompetitive behavior by Big Tech firms – and recently signaled that his agency was prepared to face off with Meta at trial.
“We’re gearing up for trial,” Ferguson told Bloomberg. “We’ve got among the FTC’s best lawyers on it, and we’re on the brink of go. This trial has been five years within the making.”
Meta and Zuckerberg have also pushed the Trump administration to fight back against the European Union’s recent moves to high-quality American tech firms for violating its own competition rules.
As The Post has reported, the European Commission, the EU’s antitrust watchdog, is predicted to slap Meta with a high-quality that might exceed $1 billion for noncompliance with its sweeping Digital Markets Act.
Meta has been pushing Trump officials to intervene as a part of an effort to weaken the penalty and even nix it altogether.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is aggressively lobbying the Trump administration to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against the corporate before it goes to trial later this month, in line with a report Wednesday.
The Facebook founder, who has tried to cozy as much as President Trump since his election win, was spotted on the White House on Wednesday because the administration prepared to announce its latest trade policies, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The visit marked the third time that Zuckerberg has traveled to the White House since Trump took office. The terms of Meta’s proposed settlement weren’t known.
The FTC is looking for to interrupt up Meta by unwinding its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The agency has alleged that Meta bought the businesses as a way to stifle rising competitors before they might challenge its social media dominance. The trial is slated to start on April 14.
Some Trump administration officials have chafed over Meta’s tactics and feel the corporate has been too aggressive in calling for a settlement, sources told the Journal.
Trump has reportedly yet to make a call on whether to settle.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone declined to comment specifically on Zuckerberg’s appearance within the Oval Office.
“Mark’s continuing the meetings he’s been holding with the administration on American technology leadership,” Stone said in an announcement.
Representatives for the White House didn’t immediately return a request for comment. The FTC declined comment.
Trump has asserted renewed authority over the FTC since taking office, issuing an executive order meant to provide him more direct influence over the agency, which was traditionally seen as independent from the White House.
Last month, the president fired the agency’s two Democrat commissioners, who’ve since sued to reverse his move. Meanwhile, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, a Republican, has referred to the agency because the “Trump-Vance FTC” and backed the president’s decision.
Ferguson has vowed to stay aggressive in taking over anticompetitive behavior by Big Tech firms – and recently signaled that his agency was prepared to face off with Meta at trial.
“We’re gearing up for trial,” Ferguson told Bloomberg. “We’ve got among the FTC’s best lawyers on it, and we’re on the brink of go. This trial has been five years within the making.”
Meta and Zuckerberg have also pushed the Trump administration to fight back against the European Union’s recent moves to high-quality American tech firms for violating its own competition rules.
As The Post has reported, the European Commission, the EU’s antitrust watchdog, is predicted to slap Meta with a high-quality that might exceed $1 billion for noncompliance with its sweeping Digital Markets Act.
Meta has been pushing Trump officials to intervene as a part of an effort to weaken the penalty and even nix it altogether.
