FTC chair Lina Khan fears Trump deal for Amazon, Facebook

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan said Tuesday she hopes the incoming Trump administration will not let Amazon and Facebook parent Meta off the hook from pending antitrust lawsuits by her agency with a “sweetheart deal.”

But, “I can’t predict what future people in my position are going to do,” Khan said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Khan’s comments come as Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have made apparent efforts to curry favor with President-elect Donald Trump.

Those efforts have included $1 million donations to Trump’s inauguration fund, and Bezos and Zuckerberg separately visiting the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home.

CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Khan how she views those moves.

Khan said, “It is true that the FTC has been very successful, including in its ongoing litigations against Amazon and Facebook.”

“And so it’s only going to be natural that those companies are going to want to come in and see, can they get some type of sweetheart deal, right?” said Khan, an appointee of President Joe Biden.

“Can they get some type of settlement that’s cheap, that settles for pennies on the dollar and … lets them escape from a liability finding in court?” she said.

Asked if she saw that happening under the next administration, Khan said, “I hope it won’t.”

“But again, I can’t predict that,” she added.

“We are set to go to trial against Facebook this spring, against Amazon in fall of 2026. Of course they would want a sweetheart deal, and I hope future enforcers wouldn’t give them that.”

Trump last month picked FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to replace Khan, who as the agency’s boss has aggressively policed anticompetitive business practices.