{"id":3747,"date":"2026-06-24T19:35:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747"},"modified":"2026-06-24T19:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:35:34","slug":"trump-spoke-with-live-nation-ceo-shortly-before-surprise-justice-department-settlement-court-filing-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747","title":{"rendered":"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\n Live Nation\u2019s chief executive spoke with President Donald Trump less than a month before the ticketing and events giant reached a surprise antitrust settlement with the Justice Department that consumer advocate groups have largely panned.\n <\/p>

Read more Appeals court deals biggest setback yet to Trump DOJ\u2019s demands for confidential voter roll data<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The highly-unusual conversation between Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and the president was disclosed in a court filing on Monday. The disclosure also reveals that the White House counsel\u2019s office was involved in finalizing the settlement.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn February 2026, Mr. Rapino discussed a variety of topics related to Live Nation\u2019s business with President Donald J. Trump; the status of DOJ\u2019s lawsuit against Defendants came up but no substantive terms regarding any potential settlement were discussed,\u201d Live Nation disclosed in a court filing.\n <\/p>\n

\n The filing raises questions about whether Trump was personally behind the settlement and how closely he is involved in Justice Department decision-making.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN has reached out to Live Nation, the Justice Department and White House for comment.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n\n
\n
\"President<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nPresident Donald Trump speaks with reporters after arriving in Washington, on June 24, 2026.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Cliff Owen\/AP<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n The conversation took place just weeks before the landmark antitrust trial began and the same month senior Justice Department leadership pushed out Gail Slater, the head of the Justice Department\u2019s antitrust division. Slater was known to advocate for aggressive approaches to the antitrust cases she oversaw\n <\/p>\n

\n On March 5, representatives of Live Nation, the antitrust division, the attorney general\u2019s office, deputy attorney general\u2019s office and White House counsel\u2019s office met to finalize the settlement, and hammered out a term sheet signed that day, according to the court filing.\n <\/p>

Read more House Democrats\u2019 anxiety rises after wins by Mamdani-backed candidates: \u2018Are we going to let them take over the party?\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The Live Nation settlement with DOJ was announced during the second week of the trial and blindsided the judge overseeing the case as well as the Justice Department trial team handling the case before the jury.\n <\/p>\n

\n Judge Arun Subramanian summoned Rapino and the head of the antitrust division to court for a testy hearing. During the hearing, the judge said it was \u201cmind boggling\u201d that DOJ attorneys did not know about deal.\n <\/p>\n

\n The trial resumed with more than 30 state attorneys general moving forward. The jury found Live Nation acted as a monopoly and overcharged fans.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n\n
\n
\"Abigail<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nAbigail Slater, US assistant attorney general nominee for US President Donald Trump, during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, on February 12, 2025.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Daniel Heuer\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n After the verdict was announced, Slater wrote on X, \u201cYou made antitrust history today. You fought the good fight, you finished the race, and you kept the faith.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The judge will ultimately decide whether to approve the DOJ settlement and assign remedies or damages in light of the verdict.\n <\/p>

Read more Lawyers for Rep. LaMonica McIver force judges to weigh the limits of congressional immunity<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Live Nation\u2019s chief executive spoke with President Donald Trump less than a month before the ticketing and events giant reached a surprise antitrust settlement with the Justice Department that consumer advocate groups have largely panned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Live Nation\u2019s chief executive spoke with President Donald Trump less than a month before the ticketing and events giant reached a surprise antitrust settlement with the Justice Department that consumer advocate groups have largely panned.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-24T19:35:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b0ec0091a9bf09b13283228d04b407bd.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"511\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"headline\":\"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T19:35:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747\"},\"wordCount\":506,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/79a3bb6b390fcbf1ee8998908b85b08a.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747\",\"name\":\"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals - Relocation Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/79a3bb6b390fcbf1ee8998908b85b08a.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T19:35:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/79a3bb6b390fcbf1ee8998908b85b08a.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/79a3bb6b390fcbf1ee8998908b85b08a.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=3747#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals - Relocation Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals - Relocation Times","og_description":"Live Nation\u2019s chief executive spoke with President Donald Trump less than a month before the ticketing and events giant reached a surprise antitrust settlement with the Justice Department that consumer advocate groups have largely panned.","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747","og_site_name":"Relocation Times","article_published_time":"2026-06-24T19:35:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":511,"url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b0ec0091a9bf09b13283228d04b407bd.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be"},"headline":"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals","datePublished":"2026-06-24T19:35:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747"},"wordCount":506,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/79a3bb6b390fcbf1ee8998908b85b08a.jpg","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747","name":"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals - Relocation Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/79a3bb6b390fcbf1ee8998908b85b08a.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-24T19:35:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/79a3bb6b390fcbf1ee8998908b85b08a.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/79a3bb6b390fcbf1ee8998908b85b08a.jpg","width":800,"height":450},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=3747#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump spoke with Live Nation CEO shortly before surprise Justice Department settlement, court filing reveals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/","name":"Relocation Times","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationtimess.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}