Filing shows Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO before antitrust settlement
A court filing indicates that President Trump and the chief executive of Live Nation, the parent of Ticketmaster, spoke about the company’s business in February — before the Justice Department resolved its antitrust lawsuit against the concert and ticketing giant.
The detail matters because the Justice Department’s antitrust division is supposed to operate at arm’s length from the White House, and direct contact between a president and the head of a company under active federal investigation cuts against the norm of insulating enforcement decisions from political influence. The filing does not establish that the conversation shaped the settlement’s terms, but it puts the timing and content of the contact into the public record, where it is likely to draw scrutiny from lawmakers and the case’s critics over whether the resolution served enforcement goals or the company’s interests.