Trump says AT&T-Time Warner deal is ‘not good for the country’

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

President Donald Trump speaks to the press before departing from the south lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on November 21, 2017.

President Donald Trump weighed in briefly on the government’s attempt to block the $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner merger.

“Personally, I’ve always felt that that was a deal that’s not good for the country. I think your pricing is going to go up,” Trump said Tuesday to reporters outside the White House during an impromptu news conference. “But I’m not going to get involved, it’s litigation.”

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Monday to block the deal, calling it “illegal” and saying it would raise prices for consumers and stifle innovation and competition. AT&T has vowed to fight the lawsuit in court, resisting suggestions it sell some of its divisions to win regulatory approval.

Last year on the campaign trail, Trump promised he would not let the just-announced AT&T-Time Warner deal go through, saying it would concentrate too much power in one company.