By George Rakis

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has sought to weaponize the government against his perceived enemies. Through executive orders, blacklists, and threats of regulatory retaliation, the president has gone after law firms, universities, media, technology companies, and more.

Of particular interest for the new administration has been unraveling diversity programs to temper and prohibit lawful efforts to advance equal opportunity. Multiple executive orders have targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, or DEI, and other anti-discrimination laws. March alone saw several huge law firms retreat from DEI efforts in the face of blatantly illegal executive orders and other threats.

Meanwhile, President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Brendan Carr, has weaponized the agency to target companies like Verizon, Comcast, and Disney for alleged “invidious forms of discrimination.” Translation? Efforts to reach out to historically underrepresented groups. As Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg explained at a town hall recently, “The opposite of diversity is uniformity. The opposite of equity is inequity. The opposite of inclusion is exclusion. And I don’t know a lot of people who think we would be better off if our lives had more uniformity, inequity, and exclusion. ”

To be clear, President Trump’s actions and those of his regulators are an obvious abuse of power. For a president who complained so much about his predecessor’s alleged “weaponization” and “lawfare,” his jawboning of law firms and corporations represents the height of hypocrisy. Yet, one may wonder why and how Trump is picking his targets.

As much of corporate America has been “rethinking” DEI practices to placate President Trump, Big Tech has mostly avoided the hammer that has befallen law firms, telecom, and legacy media.

Microsoft, a firm that relies heavily on federal government contracts and is currently facing an antitrust probe, has doubled down on DEI. Apple, a company grappling with a range of potentially adverse government policies—from antitrust scrutiny to tariffs—has affirmed its commitment to DEI. Google, fighting two antitrust cases, appears to be simply rebranding existing practices.

While others have been forced to retreat from DEI initiatives to satisfy President Trump, Big Tech seems to be treated with kid gloves. Aside from one nagging post on Truth Social, the President seems unbothered by Big Tech’s DEI practices. But why?

My organization has written about Big Tech’s efforts to flatter the president, including the generous donations, the VIP appearances at the inauguration, etc. Despite that, conservatives skeptical of Big Tech have been trying to reassure themselves and their allies that President Trump won’t let Big Tech buy their way into his good graces.

But we know the truth.

These companies didn’t become monopolies without knowing how to play the Washington game to their advantage. Consider the $40 million Amazon spent on a Melania Trump documentary series and the company’s move to license “The Apprentice” on Amazon Prime. Or Meta’s decision to settle a frivolous lawsuit to the tune of $22 million going to the Trump presidential library.

Of course, these settlements and entertainment deals may be mere rounding errors for trillion-dollar behemoths and their CEOs. But the willingness of these billionaire tech CEOs to travel to DC and Mar-a-Lago to repeatedly appear to bend the knee is far more valuable to Trump than any financial investment these companies could make. Big Tech companies have more money and power than most nations, and to see these companies bow before the president sends a powerful message.

As watchdogs of monopoly power, it is vital to consider the creative ways that power manifests. And in an era when President Trump is perfectly comfortable illegally weaponizing government power against companies and entities that are trying to promote a more inclusive workplace, Big Tech has notably dodged these attacks.

Will the administration, at the behest of President Trump, also drop its antitrust enforcement actions against Meta and Apple? The recent firings of two Democratic FTC commissioners don’t bode well for antitrust efforts meant to rein in these tech giants. Mark Zuckerberg’s head-spinning 360 on content moderation and $1 million donation to President Trump’s inauguration has already earned him three White House meetings, ahead of an April Federal Trade Commission trial.

Big Tech companies may have bought their freedom from President Trump’s wrath…temporarily. Time will tell how dependence on a mercurial president, instead of the rule of law, works out for Big Tech.

George Rakis is the Executive Director Emeritus and Board Chair of NextGen Competition. He can be reached on X and Bluesky.