Corporate dealmaking is getting bigger and bolder under Trump

Companies are more willing to take a shot at deals that merge direct competitors, bankers and lawyers say, thanks in part to the Trump administration’s more lax approach to enforcement.

The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission, which share antitrust authority, have sued to block only three mergers since Republican leaders took over at the two agencies earlier this year. They sued to block an average of six deals a year during former President Joe Biden’s term. In the second half of his term, enforcers focused more on monopolization cases.

“People are encouraged and willing to take more risk, willing to entertain bigger deals," said Oliver Smith, co-head of mergers and acquisitions for law firm Davis Polk.

That has prompted an increase in deal volume. Deal value in the U.S. so far this year is up more than 40% from the same period in 2024 to about $1.9 trillion, according to data from LSEG. And there have been roughly twice as many deals valued above $10 billion than in the same period in 2024.

Dealmakers say several of the high-profile tie-ups proposed or announced likely wouldn’t have been attempted under the prior administration.

A $71.5 billion deal for railroad Union Pacific to buy Norfolk Southern would create the country’s first coast-to-coast rail operator. Nexstar Media Group’s bid to buy rival broadcaster Tegna would create a combined company whose television stations reach more homes than federal rules currently allow. Novo Nordisk participated in a heated bidding war for obesity-drug developer Metsera despite already owning a blockbuster treatment (rival Pfizer prevailed).

Nine Republican state attorneys general earlier this month asked the rail companies’ regulator, the Surface Transportation Board, to scrutinize the deal because it could lead to higher prices for industries that rely on freight rail. Three Republican state attorneys general separately sent a letter in support of the deal.

President Trump said in September that he discussed the deal with the companies and that “it sounds good to me, to be honest with you." The STB, which needs to bless the merger, is run by a Trump appointee.

To allow the Tegna deal, the Federal Communications Commission would have to waive or change a rule that limits any one company’s reach to 39% of the nation’s television homes. Combined with Tegna, which owns 64 stations, Nexstar would reach 60%. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has indicated support for loosening the rule, but Trump, ever unpredictable, recently suggested on Truth Social that he might oppose it.

A major shift

Dealmakers and executives initially worried that the Trump administration’s populist bent could mean opposition to big deals, particularly in tech. But Trump’s antitrust chiefs—Gail Slater at the Justice Department and Andrew Ferguson at the FTC—have made clear they are most concerned about protecting competition in cost-of-living sectors, such as healthcare and housing.

Dealmakers have been encouraged after several major acquisitions were easily cleared, including Google-parent Alphabet’s $32 billion deal for cybersecurity company Wiz. T-Mobile’s $4.4 billion acquisition of most of U.S. Cellular’s operations got clearance in July, even though Slater complained publicly about the rising concentration of mobile carriers.

Many companies have gotten deals blessed by Trump’s enforcers by offering settlements, which typically involve agreeing to sell pieces of a business to a third party that can compete with the combined company.

The agencies have reached seven settlements that required divestitures or promises to refrain from anticompetitive behavior so far this year, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal data.

The Justice Department’s antitrust division views settlements as often providing a more effective remedy for consolidation, according to a senior Justice official. The divestitures that companies offer address the lost competition, while trials would add expense and time, the official said.

An FTC spokesman said the agency’s enforcement approach “includes bringing lawsuits to lower the price of healthcare and housing, as well as providing regulatory clarity to markets."

Some dealmakers and executives see paths to lobby the White House for their deal’s approval even when antitrust cops balk. Even senior officials inside the Justice Department operate on the maxim that Trump likes deals and wants to see them get done.

“The merger review process has shifted dramatically," said Robin Crauthers, a former Justice Department antitrust lawyer. “Deals that might be seen as anticompetitive can now be fixed."

The sole big deal the Trump administration has challenged was Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s planned $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, announced in January 2024.

HPE hired Trump-affiliated lawyers or consultants such as Mike Davis and Arthur Schwartz to help advise it on the case. HPE later agreed to sell off a small piece of its business to settle the suit and acquire Juniper. The deal closed in July.

A senior Justice Department official, Roger Alford, later said lobbyists had corrupted the merger-review process. Alford was fired in July along with the department’s top merger-enforcement official.

The FTC, which has challenged more deals than the Justice Department, recently lost its first trial challenging a deal, when a federal judge ruled it misjudged the threat to competition from merging two small companies that provide a coating for medical devices such as catheters.

FTC lawyers were in court again recently trying to block Edwards Lifesciences from buying a much smaller rival developing a device for a heart condition. That trial was scheduled to wrap up this week.

Write to Dave Michaels at dave.michaels@wsj.com and Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com