Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO before antitrust settlement

President Donald Trump spoke personally with Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino in the weeks before the Justice Department settled its antitrust case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The two discussed the lawsuit in February, and Live Nation’s lawyers did not talk through specific settlement terms.

The Justice Department publicly announced its settlement on March 9, 2026, just days into the trial that began March 2 in the states’ case. The department’s docket now lists a Notice of Settlement dated March 9 and a Proposed Final Judgment filed June 12, and the agreement still must clear Tunney Act review and a public comment period.

White House lawyers were involved in meetings, videoconferences, phone calls and written communications with Live Nation and the Justice Department during February and March. The federal case was still active, the trial was underway, and the settlement cut the federal government out of the courtroom while 33 states and the District of Columbia kept pressing ahead.

Those states did not all take the same path. Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Dakota accepted the DOJ settlement, while the others continued. On April 15, a jury in the Southern District of New York found Live Nation and Ticketmaster unlawfully monopolized primary ticketing services and amphitheaters, and unlawfully tied amphitheater access to concert promotion services. Jurors also calculated damages at $1.72 per primary concert ticket sold under the challenged conduct.

The Justice Department’s proposed remedy does not call for a breakup of Live Nation or a divestiture of Ticketmaster. It does, however, require Live Nation to give up control of 13 amphitheaters and includes structural and behavioral changes intended to open more room for competitors in ticket sales and amphitheater booking.