Last week, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general did something rare in today’s political climate. They joined forces to warn that the United States is falling behind in the global technology race and that blocking the Justice Department’s approved merger between HPE and Juniper Networks, as some extremist anti-Trump senators are attempting to do, would make this problem worse.
Their letter was not one of love for Big Tech or corporate consolidation. Democrats and Republicans are rightly skeptical of both. It was a recognition of a simple strategic reality. If the West wants to push back against China’s dominance in 5G and emerging artificial intelligence infrastructure, we need American firms capable of competing at scale.
Right now, this is not happening.
Currently, Huawei controls roughly 31% of the global 5G equipment market. Meanwhile, all American companies combined hold only 21%.
AI IS AMERICA’S STRATEGIC ASSET CHINA PLANS TO DOMINATE
This is extremely concerning because Huawei is not an ordinary private firm. It is deeply intertwined with the Chinese Communist Party, subsidized by the Chinese government, and deployed as a geopolitical weapon. The State Department has warned for years that Huawei engages in spying, IP theft, and surveillance practices that align with Beijing’s authoritarian ambitions. And the FBI determined that Huawei equipment placed atop Midwest cell towers could be used to intercept sensitive U.S. military communications, including those related to our nuclear arsenal.
Most Americans would be shocked to learn how deeply China’s tentacles reach into Western digital networks. Germany relies on Chinese suppliers for nearly 60% of its 5G systems. Developing nations throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America are locked into long-term technology contracts that effectively give Beijing control of their data routing, communications infrastructure, and, in some cases, even domestic surveillance capacity.
Given these eye-popping conditions, America should be doing everything possible to build up its 5G manufacturing base, not fighting the very companies trying to compete with China.
Enter the proposed HPE–Juniper, a combination between two American firms trying to assemble the scale necessary to go toe-to-toe with a Chinese behemoth — and win.
The bipartisan attorneys general letter explained this reality plainly. Even after the merger, the combined company “would remain smaller than Cisco in the domestic market, and its market share would fall below the concentration thresholds that historically trigger antitrust challenges.”
In other words, the extremist critics are not warning about a monopoly. They are taking issue with a merged company that would still be smaller than multiple market competitors. The only reason one would turn this deal into a political matter is if they were dead set on opposing the Trump administration on just about anything.
The truth is that this merger would create exactly what America lacks today: a U.S.-based 5G champion with global reach, technical depth, and the ability to challenge Huawei’s dominance in markets where Chinese subsidies have given Beijing a massive head start.
It is telling that even in Europe, where regulators have a reputation for micromanaging American tech companies, the merger already received approval. The United Kingdom gave it a green light. The European Union did as well. These are not agencies known for leniency, yet they recognized what Washington progressives have refused to admit: this deal is pro-competition in the global sense that matters most.
It also matters that the U.S. intelligence community supported the merger early on. Intelligence said blocking the deal would have “hindered American companies and empowered” Chinese competitors. They understand better than anyone that digital infrastructure is the battlefield of the future. If America lacks competitive players, it would cede that terrain to the CCP.
President Donald Trump’s DOJ got this right. After reviewing the deal, the DOJ reached a settlement in July that protected competition, protected consumers, and enabled the U.S. to build a stronger AI and 5G industry. In doing so, the DOJ strengthened America’s company, pushed back against China, and rejected bureaucratic overreach disguised as “antitrust” all at once.
The bipartisan attorneys general coalition echoed that reasoning. After a full year of regulatory review, the deal produced zero customer complaints — zero. That alone should tell regulators everything they need to know. The question now is whether states and federal officials will embrace the clear-eyed argument from the attorneys general, or whether ideological hostility to American business will once again prevent the U.S. from competing on the world stage.
We already know how China hopes this ends. Huawei has spent two decades building an empire. The least we can do is stop kneecapping the American companies trying to build an alternative.
AI IS REDEFINING NATIONAL POWER AND SOVEREIGNTY
The attorneys general are right. If America wants to win the 5G future and prevent China from controlling it, it must allow the HPE–Juniper merger to proceed and bring this chapter of the never-Trump political posturing to an end.
Partisan politics should never get in the way of national security. Hopefully, the judicial branch will ensure this soon.
Ken Cuccinelli is a senior fellow for Homeland Security at the Center for Renewing America. He previously served as the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, and before that, he was Virginia’s 46th attorney general.
