Technology industry

The administration's relationship with the largest technology firms in 2025 and 2026 combined antitrust litigation inherited from earlier administrations with direct deal-making. Judge Leonie Brinkema declined on 2 September 2026 to order the sale of Google's AdX exchange that the Justice Department sought, accepting behavioral remedies instead (Reuters). The government took a 10% equity stake in Intel in August 2025, funded by unpaid CHIPS Act grants (Intel), and agreed to let Nvidia sell its H200 in China in exchange for a 25% fee to the US government, clearing about 10 Chinese buyers in May (Reuters; Reuters). The GENIUS Act stablecoin regime and the OCC's implementing rule take effect on 18 January 2027 (OCC), while the CLARITY Act on crypto market structure stalled when cloture failed 49–50 on 15 September (US Senate).

The antitrust cases belong to the courts and to Justice Department lawyers, so the new Congress's influence runs through investigation and the documentary record. Democrats have said they will investigate companies that drew close to the administration; Senator Adam Schiff has asked whether Amazon's $40 million payment for a film about Melania Trump bought an advantage in cloud and defense contracts (Politico). Robert Garcia, in line to chair House Oversight, posted "LAWYER UP" on election night (NPR), and Democrats say they will target possible corruption involving Trump's family, Musk's leadership of DOGE and immigration enforcement. Musk, who spent heavily to back Republicans and threatened retaliation last month after a report that Democrats were considering probes of his companies, is the most exposed (Reuters). SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, fell 5.2% and Tesla 4.9% in premarket trading on 4 November, and analysts said congressional scrutiny could slow the merger of the two that Musk intends (Reuters).

Legislation is possible where interests align across parties. Children's online safety and narrower privacy measures have Republican sponsors. The crypto industry faces a reset: any market-structure bill now needs Democratic consumer-protection terms, and the GENIUS Act's licensing regime arrives regardless. The executive keeps control of Section 232 chip tariffs, of the 25% fee arrangement for H200 exports to China, of H-1B fees and of merger review, and can use them to reward or punish individual firms. That makes the largest companies political actors on two fronts at once, courting an executive that controls licenses and tariffs while defending themselves before committees that control subpoenas.

For investors the main change is a higher political discount on companies whose growth depends on federal favor, from defense-tech contractors to Trump Media, which fell 7.7% on 4 November (Reuters). In the near term the cost is mostly legal and reputational. Chip tariffs and H200 licensing tie this section to China, Taiwan and Korea, where the same executive tools set the terms of trade.