Amid President Donald Trump’s intervention into a major antitrust case, Justice Department officials openly questioned the loyalty of a top Trump advisor involved in the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported – leaving onlookers stunned Sunday night.
According to the report, the Justice Department was readying to mount a legal fight against Live Nation – the parent company of Ticketmaster – earlier this year that was “more than a decade in the making.” Trump himself had also pledged in 2025 to target “price-gouging by middlemen in the entertainment industry” via an executive order.
However, weeks before Trump directly contacted a “senior DOJ official” over the phone with a demand to settle the case, DOJ officials had learned of multiple telling developments.
“Weeks before Trump’s call, Live Nation told DOJ officials that the company had brought in a fresh set of lawyers for settlement talks. They were from Sullivan & Cromwell, the New York-based firm that represents Trump in his personal legal troubles,” the Journal’s report reads.
“DOJ officials also learned that Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s private legal coordinator, had taken a keen interest in resolving the case, according to people familiar with the matter. The officials didn’t know whether he was working for Trump or Live Nation, or both.”
The revelation that the loyalty of Trump’s own top adviser was in question by DOJ officials stunned political observers.
“This sentence made my jaw drop,” wrote Jason Kint, CEO of the trade association Digital Content Next, in a social media post on X Sunday night.
Antitrust attorney Brendan Benedict called the Journal’s report a “must-read,” which also included new details about Trump’s apparent impatience ahead of the antitrust case being settled.
“The president stopped by to check on the negotiations. How is this not settled yet? asked Trump, according to people familiar with the matter,” the Journal’s report reads – remarks that were issued in the wake of a White House meeting between then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and Michael Rapino, the CEO of Live Nation.