The Trump Administration Ditches Another Rogue DOJ Official
Authored by Tudor Dixon via American Greatness,
The second Trump administration is very different from the first. As 45th president, Donald Trump was saddled with disloyal officials who constantly undermined his agenda. The Ukraine impeachment scandal, among other events, was the result of this internal subversion.
But the second term sets a new standard for loyalty.
The administration will no longer tolerate rogue officials making their own policy.
This was made clear last week when the administration pushed out Gail Slater, the Justice Department’s antitrust chief.
Slater made a name for herself by going against administration policy and insisting on her personal priorities. While some misguided conservatives praised Slater as a “MAGA patriot,” her record reveals a very different streak. She was weak on China, weak on defending free speech, and weak on combating woke corporations.
Her departure signals that the second Trump administration is serious about ensuring officials are committed to the president’s agenda.
Slater ran afoul of the administration in her incorrigible opposition to the HPE-Juniper merger. The merger was supported by national security experts in the administration as necessary to counter the growing menace of Chinese tech dominance. The merger would allow American companies to coalesce resources to take on Huawei on the world stage.
One official told Axios last year that blocking the deal would have “hindered American companies and empowered” Chinese entities. But Slater was resolutely opposed to it, in spite of the national security claims raised. The administration overruled her objections and approved the deal anyway. “Competition is global, and a combined HPE-Juniper is a stronger bulwark against that, against Huawei,” a government source told Fortune on why the administration approved the merger. “It will be the only U.S.-based company that provides the entire technology stack that Huawei does.”
It should be noted that one of Slater’s deputies who oversaw this matter was a Chinese sympathizer. Roger Alford was one of Slater’s key allies in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division before he was forced out last year. He boasts a record of praising China since the early 2010s and once even criticized Trump to a Chinese audience over his desire to reform the trade imbalance between the two countries.
Slater has a dubious record on free speech. In 2020, she signed on as a member of a project dedicated to formulating a framework for “moderating speech online.” The report, in which her name appears as an endorsee, praised social media companies for suppressing “misinformation” about COVID-19 and “hate speech.” The study also urged governments to take a proactive stance on “moderating” online content to ensure that liberal standards are enforced.
While Slater and her allies like to proclaim her as a bold populist standing up against corporate power, she approved one of the more concerning business moves in recent history. Disney, which stands as one of the wokest companies in the country, was able to add important NFL media assets to its empire. The deal raised eyebrows for giving the NFL partial ownership of ESPN, which is supposed to be an independent body covering the league, as well as for allowing Disney to grow even larger in the market. Experts warned the deal could result in price hikes for consumers and violate the spirit of antitrust laws. But Slater seemed unmoved by these arguments and approved the deal before departing from the DOJ.
It’s unclear how it serves the nation to defend the interests of Huawei and Disney, but Slater made a point to do so in her role at the DOJ.
If we want to make America great again, Trump needs reliable team players to enact his agenda. Slater did not fit the bill. She had her own agenda that did not fit with the MAGA one. That’s why she’s out of office.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 03/01/2026 – 15:10