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Google CEO Sundar Pichai talks with Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool/Getty Images)
'Blunt Corruption': Trump DOJ Hands Google an Antitrust Win After Tech Giant's Ballroom Donation
Alphabet, Google's parent company, is contributing $22 million to the president's ballroom project.
Nov 06, 2025
The US Justice Department has reportedly given the tech behemoth Alphabet a green light to acquire the cybersecurity firm Wiz after it was revealed that the Google parent company donated to President Donald Trump's $300 million ballroom project.
The merger deal is valued at over $30 billion and would mark Alphabet's largest acquisition to date, even as the company faces antitrust cases at the state and federal level. Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport announced the Justice Department's decision on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal.
The DOJ approval came after Bloomberg reported in June that the Justice Department's antitrust arm was reviewing whether Alphabet's acquisition of Wiz would illegally undermine competition. The following month, the Justice Department ousted two of its top antitrust officials amid internal conflict over shady corporate settlement deals.
Lee Hepner, an antitrust attorney and senior legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, called the DOJ's clearing of Alphabet's Wiz acquisition "the kind of blunt corruption that most won't notice."
Hepner observed that news of the approval came shortly after the White House released a list of individuals and corporations that have pumped money into Trump's gaudy ballroom project. Google—which also donated to Trump's inauguration—was one of the prominent names on the list, alongside Amazon, Apple, and other major corporations.
Google is reportedly funneling $22 million to the ballroom project.
"These giant corporations aren't funding the Trump ballroom debacle out of a sense of civic pride," Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said earlier this week. "They have massive interests before the federal government and they undoubtedly hope to curry favor with, and receive favorable treatment from, the Trump administration."
"Millions to fund Trump's architectural whims are nothing compared to the billions at stake in procurement, regulatory, and enforcement decisions," he added.
According to a Public Citizen report published Monday, two-thirds of the 24 known corporate donors to Trump's ballroom project—including Google—are beneficiaries of recent government contracts.
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The US Justice Department has reportedly given the tech behemoth Alphabet a green light to acquire the cybersecurity firm Wiz after it was revealed that the Google parent company donated to President Donald Trump's $300 million ballroom project.
The merger deal is valued at over $30 billion and would mark Alphabet's largest acquisition to date, even as the company faces antitrust cases at the state and federal level. Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport announced the Justice Department's decision on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal.
The DOJ approval came after Bloomberg reported in June that the Justice Department's antitrust arm was reviewing whether Alphabet's acquisition of Wiz would illegally undermine competition. The following month, the Justice Department ousted two of its top antitrust officials amid internal conflict over shady corporate settlement deals.
Lee Hepner, an antitrust attorney and senior legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, called the DOJ's clearing of Alphabet's Wiz acquisition "the kind of blunt corruption that most won't notice."
Hepner observed that news of the approval came shortly after the White House released a list of individuals and corporations that have pumped money into Trump's gaudy ballroom project. Google—which also donated to Trump's inauguration—was one of the prominent names on the list, alongside Amazon, Apple, and other major corporations.
Google is reportedly funneling $22 million to the ballroom project.
"These giant corporations aren't funding the Trump ballroom debacle out of a sense of civic pride," Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said earlier this week. "They have massive interests before the federal government and they undoubtedly hope to curry favor with, and receive favorable treatment from, the Trump administration."
"Millions to fund Trump's architectural whims are nothing compared to the billions at stake in procurement, regulatory, and enforcement decisions," he added.
According to a Public Citizen report published Monday, two-thirds of the 24 known corporate donors to Trump's ballroom project—including Google—are beneficiaries of recent government contracts.
The US Justice Department has reportedly given the tech behemoth Alphabet a green light to acquire the cybersecurity firm Wiz after it was revealed that the Google parent company donated to President Donald Trump's $300 million ballroom project.
The merger deal is valued at over $30 billion and would mark Alphabet's largest acquisition to date, even as the company faces antitrust cases at the state and federal level. Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport announced the Justice Department's decision on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal.
The DOJ approval came after Bloomberg reported in June that the Justice Department's antitrust arm was reviewing whether Alphabet's acquisition of Wiz would illegally undermine competition. The following month, the Justice Department ousted two of its top antitrust officials amid internal conflict over shady corporate settlement deals.
Lee Hepner, an antitrust attorney and senior legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, called the DOJ's clearing of Alphabet's Wiz acquisition "the kind of blunt corruption that most won't notice."
Hepner observed that news of the approval came shortly after the White House released a list of individuals and corporations that have pumped money into Trump's gaudy ballroom project. Google—which also donated to Trump's inauguration—was one of the prominent names on the list, alongside Amazon, Apple, and other major corporations.
Google is reportedly funneling $22 million to the ballroom project.
"These giant corporations aren't funding the Trump ballroom debacle out of a sense of civic pride," Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said earlier this week. "They have massive interests before the federal government and they undoubtedly hope to curry favor with, and receive favorable treatment from, the Trump administration."
"Millions to fund Trump's architectural whims are nothing compared to the billions at stake in procurement, regulatory, and enforcement decisions," he added.
According to a Public Citizen report published Monday, two-thirds of the 24 known corporate donors to Trump's ballroom project—including Google—are beneficiaries of recent government contracts.
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