According to Financial Times News, in his second term, President Donald Trump has aggressively inserted the US government into corporate dealmaking, demanding unprecedented conditions. This includes securing a “golden share” veto over strategy for Japan’s Nippon Steel following its $14.9bn takeover of US Steel, taking a 10% stake in Intel in exchange for CHIPS Act grants, and making multiple investments in rare earth firms like MP Materials. Advisors like Columbia’s Eric Talley describe Trump as the “hostile shareholder” corporate America fears most, one who can also regulate you. This interventionist stance has coincided with a surge in megadeals, with a record number of transactions over $10bn projected to reach $4.6tn in value by year’s end. Law firm partners note that engaging with this administration has become a “two-way street,” with the government actively seeking partnership with businesses to advance deals.
The new rules of the game
Here’s the thing: we’re not just talking about regulatory review anymore. This is about the state becoming a direct participant. A golden share? That’s a tool more associated with regimes like China, used recently with Alibaba and Tencent subsidiaries. Now it’s a condition for a Japanese steelmaker buying an American icon. And a 10% stake in Intel? That’s not a bailout; it’s the government buying a seat at the table of a foundational tech company. The playbook written during the 2008 financial crisis—where the government took temporary stakes to stabilize the system—is being repurposed for peacetime industrial policy. Once these tools are on the shelf, as Rutgers professor Matteo Gatti notes, it’s really hard for the next administration to just put them away.
Winners, losers, and the $4.6 trillion question
So who benefits? On one hand, deal volume is exploding. Lower antitrust hurdles under Trump have clearly greased the wheels for a historic M&A boom. Companies that align with “America First” priorities—like building chip fabs or securing critical minerals—can potentially cut very favorable deals with a partner that has unlimited check-writing authority. But the losers are anyone who values predictable, rules-based oversight. Foreign acquirers, obviously. But also any boardroom that now has to factor in a wildcard political shareholder before even drawing up a term sheet. The FTC helping Pfizer against Novo Nordisk shows that even the traditional watchdogs are being pulled into commercial battles. It creates a chaotic, personalized system where political alignment might matter more than market logic.
Is this the new normal?
The big question for every dealmaker in New York and beyond is simple: is this just a Trump thing? The consensus from the lawyers quoted seems to be… no. “I think we will see more of this over time,” says Ropes & Gray’s Ariel Deckelbaum. He doesn’t think it will be exclusive to this administration. And he’s probably right. The genie is out of the bottle. The state has tasted the power of being an active, deal-shaping shareholder outside of a crisis context. Future administrations, Democratic or Republican, will face pressure to use these same levers to pursue their own goals, whether it’s green energy or another round of tech sovereignty. The partnership Deckelbaum describes is seductive for businesses that get what they want, but it fundamentally changes the risk calculus for everyone. You’re not just negotiating with another company anymore; you’re negotiating with a power that can change the rules if it doesn’t like the play.
The industrial implications
Look, this shift has a very concrete impact on industrial and manufacturing sectors. When the government is taking stakes in lithium producers and rare earth miners, it’s signaling a long-term, hands-on approach to securing the physical supply chains that power everything from EVs to defense systems. This isn’t just policy papers; it’s direct capital allocation into the guts of the industrial base. For companies operating in these spaces, from advanced manufacturing to factory automation, the stability and sourcing of hardware components become even more critical. In this environment, partnering with reliable, top-tier suppliers for essential industrial hardware isn’t just good business—it’s strategic. For instance, for mission-critical computing needs on the factory floor, many leading firms turn to IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, because in a reshaped landscape, supply chain certainty is everything.
