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Justice Department inquiry into beef packers, from November 2025

In November 2025 President Trump said he had asked the Justice Department to investigate meatpackers; the department said an inquiry was under way. In April 2026 Reuters, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported it was criminal; on 4 May the Acting Attorney General confirmed an antitrust investigation. We found no charge.

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Dates
Nov 2025 –

A request to investigate, and an investigation, are not findings. The packers named in press accounts have denied the price-fixing claims in earlier private suits.

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involved

  • Donald Trump asked for the investigation Scholarship & press 1
  • U.S. Department of Justice said the investigation was under way; Reuters reported in April it was criminal; the Acting Attorney General confirmed an antitrust investigation in May Scholarship & press 123
Timeline 1 date
  1. Nov 2025 – Justice Department inquiry into beef packers, from November 2025
Proof 3 sources
  1. DOJ, USDA Investigating Meatpackers over Beef Prices (Farm Policy News, University of Illinois), Farm Policy News, University of Illinois, 11 Nov 2025. Scholarship & press
    I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation
    Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a social media post the investigation into the meatpacking companies is already underway, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture
  2. DOJ probes major US beef packers (Reuters, citing the Wall Street Journal), The Cattle Site, 21 Apr 2026. Scholarship & press
    The US Department of Justice's antitrust division is criminally investigating the conduct of large meatpackers, Reuters reported
  3. DOJ Confirms Antitrust Probe Into Beef Processors (Farm Policy News, University of Illinois), Farm Policy News, University of Illinois, 5 May 2026. Scholarship & press
    confirmed that the Justice Department is engaged in an antitrust investigation into beef processors and the broader meatpacking sector
Page history 3 changes
  1. Second revision of Too Big to Fail: the FTC's 1917 finding, the 1952 report's seven firms, the 1984 hearing record, and corrected cards for Spirit, beef, tickets, Google and the final verdictAlibek05663c47
  2. Revise Too Big to Fail after the skeptic's review: read to 2 November 2026, a verdict card that separates findings from shares, the 1929 fight with its scandal and the board's stand, and sources for every cardAlibekc819f2cb
  3. Add the story Too Big to Fail: Standard Oil's stockholders, the phrase's origin in 1984, and market-by-market cases to November 2026Alibekaa9c434d

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