Microsoft’s Cloud Grip Meets Its Match — Trump-Era Official Says Accountability Is Coming

A former Trump administration official praised the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into Microsoft, saying that the software giant’s track record on issues from China to European censorship demanded scrutiny.

Joe Grogan, the director of the Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term, said that an FTC investigation probing whether Microsoft employed anti-competitive practices was much needed.

“In the last year Microsoft has compromised American security by giving Chinese nationals access to cloud projects at the Pentagon,” he told The Daily Wire. “They’ve also signaled a strong willingness to bend to Europe’s anti-American digital services policies amid intense trade negotiations, all while pursuing anti-competitive practices to limit consumer choice. The administration is right to use its authority to hold them accountable.”

The comments from Grogan, the head of the nonprofit Public Policy Solutions, come as the FTC is looking into whether Microsoft makes it challenging for customers to use its products on rival cloud services.

After a report in July 2025 that Microsoft was employing China-based engineers for work on certain Pentagon cloud systems, the software company said that it adjusted its policies to ensure that “no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DOD government cloud and related services.”

Grogan also argued that Microsoft is strengthening its ties to Europe while the European Union implements the Digital Services Act, a sweeping speech-regulation law that allows authorities to penalize companies for failing to remove so-called misinformation or other content deemed illegal.

The FTC investigation into Microsoft is also supported by Will Hild, the executive director of Consumer’s Research.

“Microsoft’s massive market power is finally being scrutinized by Trump’s FTC, and rightly so, as the company uses its dominant market share to push a radical, woke agenda while potentially engaging in anti-competitive behavior,” Hild told The Daily Wire.

Last year, Consumers’ Research issued a “woke alert” highlighting various activist-focused initiatives at Microsoft, including donations to transgender activist groups and “pay equity” analysis comparing pay based on race and sex.

“Consumers’ Research fully supports FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and welcomes this antitrust investigation,” Hild said. “We hope it helps prevent corporate power from being abused to advance ideology at the expense of consumers.”