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President Donald Trump fired Gail Slater, his top antitrust chief, on Thursday over concerns that she was failing to push through his spending agenda, according to multiple sources.
Slater announced his departure from X on Thursday, saying he was leaving with “deep sadness and strong hope” and that it was “the privilege of a lifetime to serve” in his role. But his dismissal came as no surprise to those familiar with the antitrust division.
Slater, a one-time policy adviser to Vice President JD Vance, has left a string of controversies behind him, and, according to interviews he had with Fox News Digital and multiple sources, he appeared too lax on the issue of insolvency in the eyes of the leadership of the Department of Justice, which led to his dismissal.
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Abigail Slater, assistant attorney general of the Antitrust Division, speaks to members of the media outside a federal court in Washington, DC, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
In another heated argument, Slater challenged the DOJ to settle a lawsuit that would have blocked the merger between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks. But Attorney General Pam Bondi and national security officials wanted to move forward with a settlement and overruled Slater, the sources said. Sources say that this dispute destroyed Slater’s relationship with the leadership and even led to the dismissal of two of his deputies.
In November, as part of the administration’s broader campaign to lower consumer spending, Trump accused “foreign meatpacking companies” of conspiring to drive up beef prices, prompting the DOJ’s antitrust division to reopen a meatpacking case first brought during his previous administration.
The case focused on lowering the price of meat, but the antitrust division’s investigation has been slow under Slater’s frustrated leadership, sources said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi holds a news conference at the Department of Justice on Thursday, December 4, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Asked to comment on Slater’s exit, Bondi reiterated Trump’s priorities of infidelity in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“On behalf of the Department of Justice, we thank Gail Slater for her work in the Antitrust Division, working to protect consumers, promote affordability, and expand economic opportunity,” said Bondi.
Other internal disputes include Slater’s decision to travel with staff to Paris, despite opposition from management, and prematurely announcing his boss’s departure on social media before Bondi overruled Slater and extended his tenure.
Some criticisms have been made of Slater’s cost-cutting approach and the views he promotes abroad. Slater said in November that Americans’ average spending on housing, transportation and food was “on the horizon” and that his administration was working hard to “lower costs for American families.”
But one source summed up internal complaints with Slater, saying he was “unwilling” to coordinate and cooperate with DOJ leadership and didn’t push Trump’s goals of “economic prosperity and affordability” passionately enough.
Slater declined to comment for this story.
The antitrust division, which will now be headed by acting chief Omeed Aseffi, is known for handling high-profile cases against major technology companies, including Google, Apple and Meta, and is responsible for reviewing and approving major corporate mergers.
In nominating Slater, a longtime antitrust attorney, Trump revealed his populist credentials, noting his relationship with Vance and his work on his National Economic Council. Trump praised him at the time for being tough on big tech, in particular, saying he would target so-called small tech companies and “Make America Competitive Again.”
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President Donald Trump’s DOJ antitrust chief nominee Abigail Slater testifies at a Senate hearing. (Fox Stories)
Some of Slater’s allies pointed out that during his time at the DOJ, he faced firestorms from supporters who claimed to be aligned with Trump but, in fact, avoided the populist agenda.
Roger Alford, Slater’s former No. 2, said last year he worked to “stay true to President Trump’s message to working-class Americans.”
“An antitrust law that implements equal justice under the law would bring tangible results to millions of Americans,” Alford said. “MAGA-in-name-only representatives and the DOJ officials who enable them are pursuing a different agenda.”
Slater, however, has become dependent on former Democratic lobbyist and hawkish hawk Luther Lowe for outside advice, two sources said. Lowe has donated at least $150,000 to Democrats and none to Republicans, according to public records.
Another point of contention has been Slater’s communications with Robert Barnes, a lawyer opposed to Trump, two sources said. Mike Davis, a Trump ally who celebrated Slater’s exit, also told Fox News Digital that he was involved with Barnes.
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Slater was accepted into the no-confidence motion last March after gaining bipartisan support during a Senate nomination and was confirmed 78-19.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said of X that he was “sorry to see him go” and looked at rural America, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar, R-Mn., also called Slater’s exit “a big loss,” noting that Slater was in charge when the DOJ secured a landmark victory for Google.
