Even Trump Might Not Be Able to Stop This Merger: QuickTake Q&A

Federal antitrust officials looking at the proposed $85.4 billion merger of AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc. are still reviewing whether it might hurt consumers. The president, strangely enough, has already weighed in. While a candidate, Donald Trump said his administration wouldn’t approve an AT&T-Time Warner marriage because that would put "too much concentration of power in the hands of too few." As president-elect, Trump met with AT&T executives in New York. The question now is whether Trump, as president, might try to intervene against the deal.

The president doesn’t have direct authority to stop a proposed merger. That power rests with the Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission, which can sue to block a merger they consider anti-competitive. (In the case of AT&T-Time Warner, the Justice Department is in charge.) The Federal Communications Commission also can have a say on media and telecommunications deals, though it might not get a chance on this one. A president could try to influence the regulatory review of a merger, by pushing officials to impose conditions or to block the deal entirely, though that might skirt the bounds of propriety.