Unlocking the Path to Trump’s New American Golden Age

President Trump’s landslide victory last November was made possible largely due to his vision for a new economic Golden Age. For too long, Americans have been taken advantage of, and Trump aims to change that.

To achieve this vision, he will require the full support of the federal government. Every agency must contribute to remedying the damage inflicted by the Biden-Harris administration over the past four years, as well as by decades of politicians who prioritized their own wealth over the American people.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is at the forefront of this initiative. Recently, my agency has taken significant measures to deregulate the economy and protect Americans from fraud and anti-competitive practices.

This month, the President instructed me to identify federal regulations for elimination that undermine American interests by suppressing competition, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

In response, the FTC has initiated a public inquiry aimed at pinpointing these detrimental regulations, allowing us to gather input from all citizens, not just the elites.

For decades, Washington has been about favoring certain groups over others. Regulators, often influenced by powerful private interests, may obstruct new market entrants, stifle competition, and foster monopolies.

Those days are over. Removing these obstacles will unleash the remarkable ingenuity of the American people, enabling markets to facilitate the revitalization of our economy.

A true unlocking of our economic potential requires an energy revolution. That’s why I am urging my colleagues to overturn the burdensome and illegal consent decrees established by my FTC predecessor against oil and gas firms.

The Biden administration exploited our antitrust laws to please Democratic factions and push their detrimental climate agenda. The FTC should not be dictated to by extremists.

Rather than catering to radicals, the FTC should focus on everyday Americans who are tired of liberal elites controlling their opinions and actions.

This is precisely why we have filed a lawsuit against Meta, which we claim engaged in anti-competitive and monopolistic practices during its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

The repercussions of these acquisitions became glaringly evident in 2020. Average Americans witnessed how one corporation can wield excessive influence over every facet of our lives.

In an instant, our ability to socialize and communicate with friends and family, engage freely in political discourse, and earn a living online were all jeopardized.

The aim of our nation’s antitrust laws is to prevent any single company from accumulating so much power that it can harm Americans without repercussions.

The Meta lawsuit and others to follow are crucial in ensuring that the misconduct witnessed from Big Tech in 2020 does not recur.

American workers form the backbone of our economy. One of my first actions as chairman was to establish an agency-wide task force to investigate and prosecute misleading and anti-competitive labor practices that harm the Americans who supported the president.

Our workers have endured too much over the years. Misleading job ads, oppressive non-compete agreements, and unlawful collusion on diversity metrics are burdens they do not need. The FTC will leverage its law enforcement authority to end such abuses.

Every American feels the repercussions of illegal market power concentrations and anti-competitive behaviors — lower product quality, higher prices, deceptive job postings, and inadequate customer service.

This is the kind of misconduct that antitrust laws are designed to prevent, emphasizing why enforcing these laws is vital to the president’s economic agenda.

A common thread flows through the FTC’s mission of deregulation and antitrust enforcement: Powerful interests, both within and outside the government, can leverage their influence to exploit Americans and distort markets.

Under my stewardship, they will find no leniency.

An American Golden Age will be founded on an economy where new businesses can easily enter the market, unimpeded by bureaucratic obstacles.

It will be constructed on the innovation of companies free from governmental interference on behalf of left-leaning organizations.

And it will be established by American workers shielded against anti-competitive requirements, wage-fixing conspiracies, and collusion in diversity efforts.

An American Golden Age is achievable only when companies can compete based on their high-quality products and services. Monopolistic practices that suppress competition leave everyone worse off.

I consider my role akin to that of a watchful guardian — unlike my predecessor, I harbor no resentment toward American businesses.

Their capacity for innovation and deal-making is essential for a new American Golden Age.

The FTC is proud to stand alongside them in this endeavor.

Andrew Ferguson is chairman of the Federal Trade Commission.