Federal Trade Commission Chairman Lina Khan said Tuesday she hopes the incoming Trump administration will not let Amazon and Facebook parents Yuan Get out of unresolved dilemmas antitrust litigation “Sweetheart Deal” by her agency.
But, Khan told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” “I can’t predict what someone in my position will do in the future.”
Khan’s comments come as Amazon Chairman Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg are apparently trying to curry favor with President-elect Trump.
Those efforts include a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund and separate trips by Bezos and Zuckerberg to visit the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Khan what she thought of the moves.
“The FTC has been really successful, including with ongoing lawsuits against Amazon and Facebook,” Khan said.
“So it’s only natural that these companies want to come in and see if they can get some type of sweetheart deal, right?” said Khan, an appointee of President Joe Biden.
“Could they get some kind of cheap settlement, a very low price settlement that would allow them to avoid liability in court?” she said.
Asked if she would see this happen under the next government, Khan said: “I hope not.”
“But again, I couldn’t predict that,” she added.
“We plan to have a trial against Facebook this spring and a trial against Amazon in the fall of 2026. They certainly want a sweetheart deal, and I hope future enforcers won’t give them that opportunity.”
Trump last month appointed FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to replace Khan, who as boss of the agency has been aggressive in policing anticompetitive business practices.
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