Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche Delivers Remarks Before Opening Arguments in Google Search Remedies Trial

Good morning. Today, the Department of Justice takes an important step forward to protect the American people from the perils of Big Tech. President Trump took the first big step in 2020 when his Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google to challenge its dominance over internet search. Today, as the remedies phase of that case begins, President Trump’s Justice Department will finish the job.

Monopolies are incompatible with free markets and freedom more generally. The American dream is about more than cheap goods and services. Our values rest on freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom to innovate, and freedom to live outside the controlling hand of a monopolist. Power should rest with the people, not with Big Tech. That principle applies to the internet, which today is central to the lives of most Americans.

The court has already concluded that Google is a monopolist. And as a monopolist, Google uses its market power against the American people. It has control of an extraordinary amount of data about ordinary Americans. Google has deplatformed conservative speech and has put its thumb on the scale politically for years. All of this behavior is downstream from Google’s monopoly power over internet search.

This antitrust case addresses that monopoly power. The Department has asked the court to impose remedies that will ensure Google can never again wield such dominance over internet search. The proposed remedies will ensure that the people enjoy vigorous competition and choice online. And we ask the Court to ensure Google cannot prevent its rivals from achieving scale. 

This marks an important step in President Trump’s fight to restore power back to the American people. I am proud of the hard work of the men and women of the Antitrust Division over the last five years who have investigated and litigated the case to reach this moment. Now, time to finish the job.

Let me hand over to Gail Slater, our exceptional Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust.