WASHINGTON (TNND) — Day two of the antitrust trial against Meta kicked off on Tuesday. The Federal Trade Commission alleging the tech giant built a social media monopoly after buying Instagram and WhatsApp over a decade ago. Allegations Meta continues to deny.

As this trial continues, there is growing speculation that the Trump administration may try and step in. Ramnath Chellappa, an information systems expert at Emory University, told us, in recent months, Zuckerberg has been courting President Trump in hopes of settling this antitrust lawsuit.

The manor in which Zuckerberg has been operating in the recent past, all his efforts have been around how do I make this go away?” Chellappa said.

Zuckerberg even made political contributions, including a million dollars to Trump’s inauguration fund. The donation came just months after he admitted Facebook caved to demands from the Biden administration on content, as well as the power of censorship.

“I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in either direction,” Zuckerberg wrote in part to the House Judiciary Committee in August 2024.

But as the trial plays out, Madeline Summerville, an attorney and political analyst, told us it’s worth tracking if President Trump decides to get involved.

“There are very few ways he could directly intervene. But there are a lot of ways he could indirectly intervene to influence the conversation around it,” Summerville said.

A thought former FTC Chair Lina Khan echoed on CNN.

“That remains a constant worry that we all need to stay very vigilant about,” said Khan.

But Summerville believes that, at the end of the day, some people have more to gain if Meta is dismantled.

“Who would benefit the most from these big businesses breaking up? (It) would be the next competitor in line,” said Summerville.

The FTC argues the only way to resolve Meta’s monopoly power is for the company to be broken up. Government lawyers say a judge should order Meta to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp into separate companies.