Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan Premack. On today's show, Amazon makes it official and the spiraling fall of General Electric.

But first, President Trump versus the media. No, this isn't about Jim Acosta and press passes.

Instead, I'm talking about Trump's ongoing interest in creating legal headaches for big media

companies.

The latest example came yesterday when Trump said that Comcast, quote, routinely violates

antitrust laws, end quote.

Now, to be clear, there has been no such finding of that from Trump's own Justice

Department, none, or as Trump's own Justice Department, none.

Or as Trump himself might say, fake news.

What Trump seems to have been referring to was a request from small cable operators

that the Department of Justice open an investigation into Comcast for antitrust violations.

So at best, we have the beginning of an inquiry, not conclusions from one. But Trump apparently already has his mind made up, and it raises big questions about how those

opinions filter into the Justice Department, particularly one now run by Matt Whitaker.

And remember, there is some precedent here.

Trump said on the campaign trail that he was opposed to AT&T buying time Warner, and once he

became president, his Department of Justice did sue AT&T buying Time Warner. And once he became president,

his Department of Justice did sue AT&T for antitrust violations. Now it lost and appealed.

And House Democrats say they want an investigation to find out if that suit was really prompted

by DOJ concerns or more by Trump wanting to bruise CNN, which is owned by Time Warner.

The bottom line here is that business loves certainty. And in the media business, there isn't any right now.

I'm not asking you to feel sorry for the cable companies, but it's worth remembering and realizing we might soon see a big slowdown in consolidation until everyone figures out the rules and who's actually writing them.

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