President Trump criticizes the potential media merger between AT&T and Time Warner, the latter of which owns the anti-Trump media network CNN. President Trump thinks this deal is "not good for the country" because consumers would have to pay more with serious and rampant antitrust concerns. In recent times, Justice Department has sued to block AT&T's $85.3 billion bid for Time Warner. This lawsuit sets up a showdown over a blockbuster acquisition that the Trump administration deems to weaken competition in the capricious media landscape.

This legal battle differs starkly from the Obama administration's approval of a similar deal by Comcast to acquire NBC Universal Media in 2011. If AT&T's bid for Time Warner were to proceed, the merger would create a media and tele-communication behemoth. With its 2015 acquisition of the largest U.S. satellite company DirecTV, AT&T became the largest television distribution in America. Should AT&T be able to acquire Time Warner, the joint company would possess a non-rivalrous capability to reach consumers through news and entertainment programs with Time Warner's unique content distribution of Games of Thrones, Wonder Woman, Harry Potter, CNN news, TNT sports, and so forth. The law of inadvertent consequences counsels caution.