ABC said that it did not receive notification of the investigation but expects to. Another network has received the notification, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details.
The Justice Department’s investigation marks a sharp escalation in the Administration’s use of its powers against perceived enemies in the press.
In addition to Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, the Pentagon has fired staff members from the military newspaper Stars and Stripes who have criticised political influence on the outlet. The Defence Department also introduced stringent rules for journalists accessing the Pentagon grounds, which led to a mass walkout of journalists last year and a court battle with the New York Times.
Federal prosecutors have served subpoenas on reporters from several news organisations, including the Washington Post and the New York Times. And in January, federal law enforcement served a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post reporter and seized several of her work and personal devices.
The antitrust investigation was first reported by the New York Times.
CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC did not respond to requests for comment.
Press advocates, however, swiftly condemned the investigation.
“The Government should not use antitrust investigations to intimidate news outlets defending press access,” Jose Zamora of the Committee to Protect Journalists wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The public’s right to know depends on that access.”
Seth Stern, advocacy chief for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called the investigation “nonsense”.
“Depriving Trump of the attention he craves is not a competitive harm,” Stern said, “and in any case, antitrust law has long recognised First Amendment exceptions even when there is anticompetitive impact.”
Laura Loomer, a far-right political activist who has enjoyed a close association with the Administration, posted on social media last month that the Justice Department should investigate the networks for antitrust violations after they suspended pool coverage.
“This coordinated withdrawal of news coverage is exactly the kind of concerted action a serious antitrust division at the DOJ [Justice Department] would examine: whether competing news organisations agreed among themselves to withhold a product the public expects to see,” she tweeted.
It’s not clear whether Loomer played any role in the Justice Department’s decision to launch an investigation. Loomer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Sherman Act dates to 1890 and is one of the pillars of US antitrust law, forming the basis of major cases from the break-up of Standard Oil in 1911 to an unsuccessful effort against Microsoft in the 1990s.
Under Trump, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has been criticised by Democrats and outside watchdog groups for selectively enforcing antitrust laws, declining to thoroughly investigate or prosecute companies that are viewed as Trump Administration allies.
Trump ousted his first pick to head the department’s Antitrust Division, Gail Slater, amid disagreement over how aggressively to enforce the nation’s competition laws. The President has nominated Adam Candeub, general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, to head the Antitrust Division. He has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.
While Trump has readily criticised and warred with media companies of all stripes, he has close ties with Fox News and upper leadership at Skydance, the newly formed company that owns CBS and CNN.
Trump has hired Fox News personalities for top Administration positions, including Pete Hegseth as Defence Secretary and Sean P. Duffy as Transportation Secretary. Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary, was announced as a Fox News contributor earlier this week.
Skydance is run by David Ellison, the tech scion whose father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is a friend of the President’s. The company’s top lawyer is Makan Delrahim, who served as head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division during Trump’s first term.
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