President Donald Trump fired Gail Slater, his top antitrust enforcer, on Thursday over concerns she was failing to aggressively pursue his affordability agenda, according to multiple sources.
Slater announced her departure on X on Thursday, saying she was leaving with “great sadness and abiding hope” and that it was the “honor of a lifetime to serve” in her role. But her ouster was unsurprising to those familiar with the antitrust division.
Slater, a one-time policy adviser to Vice President JD Vance, left a string of controversies in her wake, and, according to conversations Fox News Digital had with multiple sources, she was seen as too lax on the issue of affordability in the eyes of Justice Department leadership, leading to her termination.
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In one heated controversy, Slater opposed the DOJ settling a lawsuit that would have blocked a merger between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks. But Attorney General Pam Bondi and national security officials wanted to move forward with the settlement and overruled Slater, sources said. The sources said the dispute fractured Slater’s relationship with leadership and became so contentious that it led to the ouster of two of her deputies.
In November, as part of the administration’s broader push to lower consumer costs, Trump accused “foreign-owned meat packing cartels” of colluding to drive up beef prices, prompting the DOJ antitrust division to reopen a meatpacking case first brought during his previous administration.
The case is centered on bringing the price of meat down, but the antitrust division’s investigation has been moving slowly under Slater, frustrating leadership, sources said.
Asked for comment on Slater’s exit, Bondi reiterated Trump’s antitrust priorities in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“On behalf of the Department of Justice, we thank Gail Slater for her service to the Antitrust Division, which works to protect consumers, promote affordability, and expand economic opportunity,” Bondi said.
Other internal disputes have involved Slater’s decision to travel with staff to Paris, despite objections from leadership, and prematurely announcing the departure of her chief of staff on social media before Bondi overruled Slater and extended the staffer’s tenure.
Some of the criticisms made about Slater’s approach to lowering costs are in tension with ideas she outwardly promoted. Slater said in November that average Americans’ expenditures on housing, transportation and food were at “front of mind” and that her division had been working hard “to lower costs for American families.”
But one source summed up the internal grievances with Slater, saying she was “unwilling” to coordinate and cooperate with DOJ leadership and did not prioritize Trump’s goals of “economic prosperity and affordability” zealously enough.
Slater declined to comment for this story.
The antitrust division, which will now be led by acting chief Omeed Aseffi, is known for handling high-profile civil litigation with major tech companies, including Google, Apple and Meta, and is responsible for reviewing and approving large-scale corporate mergers.
Upon nominating Slater, a longtime antitrust lawyer, Trump touted her populist bona fides, noting her ties to Vance and her work on his National Economic Council. Trump praised her at the time for being tough on big tech, in particular, saying she would look out for so-called little tech companies and “Make America Competitive Again.”
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Some of Slater’s allies have indicated that during her time at the DOJ, she faced headwinds from lobbyists who say they are aligned with Trump but, in reality, shun a populist agenda.
Roger Alford, Slater’s former No. 2, said last year that she worked to “remain true to President Trump’s populist message that resonated with working-class Americans.”
“Antitrust enforcement that applies equal justice under the law can deliver tangible results for millions of Americans,” Alford said. “The MAGA-in-name-only lobbyists and the DOJ officials enabling them are pursuing a different agenda.”
Slater has also, however, leaned on former Democratic lobbyist and antitrust 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. Luther denied advising Slater in a statement.
“I’ve known Gail Slater professionally for years, but I’ve never served as an outside advisor to her in any capacity,” Lowe said. “Any suggestion otherwise is false.”
Another point of contention has been Slater’s communication with Robert Barnes, a vehemently anti-Trump lawyer, two sources said. Mike Davis, a Trump ally who has been celebrating Slater’s exit, also told Fox News Digital she had been engaging with Barnes.
Slater had been welcomed into the antitrust division last March after gaining bipartisan support during the Senate nomination process and being confirmed 78-19.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said on X he was “sorry to see her leave” and that she looked out for rural America, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar, R-Mn., likewise called Slater’s exit a “major loss,” noting that Slater was in charge when the DOJ secured a landmark court victory against Google.
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