Judge won’t alter Google antitrust trial dates to accommodate Trump DOJ’s proposal

A US federal judge indicated that the trial addressing the Department of Justice’s proposals to curb Google’s dominance in online search will proceed as scheduled in April 2025, even if DOJ officials under President-elect Donald Trump seek to revise the remedies.

The move signals the urgency in resolving the case, which could lead to a historic shake-up of the tech giant’s operations, Reuters reported.

US District Judge Amit Mehta, overseeing the case in Washington, confirmed Tuesday that the trial will proceed as scheduled despite potential changes in DOJ leadership and priorities under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

“If there is going to be a re-evaluation of the remedies that are being requested, it needs to be done quickly,” the report said quoting Judge Mehta from a hearing.

The DOJ has proposed sweeping remedies to curb Google’s influence, including a forced divestiture of its Chrome browser and potentially its Android operating system. Both products serve as critical distribution channels for Google Search, a service found to operate as an illegal monopoly in Mehta’s August ruling.

For context, Trump is likely to pursue ongoing lawsuits against Big Tech, several of which originated during his first term. However, his recent remarks expressing skepticism about a potential Google breakup underscore the significant influence he will wield in shaping the direction of these cases.

“If you do that (splitting Google), are you going to destroy the company? What you can do without breaking it up is make sure it’s more fair,” Trump said at an event in Chicago in October.

The Justice Department first filed the antitrust lawsuit against Google in 2020, during former President Donald Trump’s first term. It accused Google of leveraging its dominance in search and advertising markets to stifle competition.

In August 2024, Mehta ruled that Google violated US antitrust laws, setting the stage for the ongoing debate over remedies. The DOJ under President Joe Biden proposed additional measures, including requiring Google to share search data with competitors, limiting investments in rival technologies, and restricting acquisitions of companies in search or query-based AI.

Google’s pushback and trial stakes

Google has sharply criticized the DOJ’s proposals, calling them “staggering” and warning that they could harm American technological leadership. The company argued that measures like forced divestitures and data-sharing mandates could weaken its competitive edge and disrupt the broader digital ecosystem.

“We’ve invested billions of dollars in Chrome and Android. Breaking them would change their business models, raise the cost of devices, and undermine competition with Apple,” Google said in a blog post in October.

The upcoming trial is expected to highlight the role of artificial intelligence in reshaping the online search landscape. Prosecutors plan to call witnesses from major AI players, including OpenAI, Perplexity, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms, to underscore the competitive challenges Google’s practices pose to innovation.

Political dynamics and antitrust implications

President-elect Trump, who expressed skepticism about a Google breakup, has yet to outline his administration’s stance on the DOJ’s proposals. However, Judge Mehta’s decision to maintain the trial timeline suggests limited patience for political recalibrations.

The case represents the most aggressive antitrust action against a tech company since the DOJ’s unsuccessful attempt to break up Microsoft two decades ago. If successful, the remedies could significantly alter the competitive dynamics in online search and advertising markets while setting a precedent for regulating the tech industry.

The trial remains a critical test of the federal government’s ability to rein in Silicon Valley’s most powerful players in an era where technology increasingly shapes global markets.