Executive orders on fraud in the marketplace

This update continues our recap of executive orders over the last six months.

Ending an enforcement action against PepsiCo-Walmart collusion

Grocery prices are continuing to rise and in December 2025 Trump signed an Executive Order instructing the Attorney General and Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish a Food Supply Chain Security Task Force to investigate food-related industries for anti-competitive behavior.

In January 2025, just before Trump took office, President Biden’s FTC filed a complaint alleging that PepsiCo had colluded with Walmart to drive up prices for Walmart’s competitors for more than a decade. PepsiCo’s internal documents revealed coordination with Walmart to increase prices for other grocers and provide lower wholesale pricing to Walmart. Trump’s FTC dismissed the case in May 2025.

But after the unredacted complaint was released to the public in December, a class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of people across the U.S. who purchased PepsiCo products at retailers other than Walmart since January 2015. The FTC, however, has not reconsidered its decision to drop the case. As of this writing, the FTC has not brought any new cases on grocery price fixing.

Scam centers and cyber-crime

To combat fraud, President Trump signed an Executive Order in March which sought to address the targeting of vulnerable Americans by scam centers and cybercrime activities run by Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). It was signed in tandem with the release of the National Cyber Strategy which is intended to tighten defensive and offensive cyber operations in the government and private sector, emphasize the right to privacy of Americans and their data in “common sense regulation”, modernize government networks and critical infrastructure, maintain technological superiority, and develop a strong foundation of cybersecurity talent.

Protecting federal programs from fraud

In January, the Center for Medicaid Services announced withholding and deferral of huge sums of federal Medicaid funds to states related to alleged fraud. Then Trump signed an Executive Order also in March establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. In the order, Trump claims that there is “strong reason to believe that . . . problems exist” in several states (namely California, Illinois, New York, Maine, Colorado, and Minnesota), including allowing “illegal aliens, criminals, foreign gangs, bureaucrats, state and local officials, non-governmental organizations, and ineligible providers” to exploit federal programs administered by states such as Medicaid, and SNAP (formerly known as foodstamps). The task force is made up of representatives from several cabinet agencies and instructed to improve verification and fraud detection controls and mechanisms, promote information-sharing between administering jurisdictions and the federal government, audit programs for compliance, and determine ways for funds to be withheld from jurisdictions with anti-fraud requirements the federal government deems insufficient.

In a court case over the original deferral of funds, a district judge denied Minnesota’s request for a preliminary injunction (a temporary block of government action) in May, so the deferral of Medicaid funding will continue as the litigation plays out. As the task force sets to work, other states are likely to see similar actions.

“Made in America” fraud

Trump is also focused on fraudulent claims of goods being made in America. He signed an Executive Order encouraging enhanced FTC enforcement of “made in America” claims, including consideration of regulations to be established for online marketplaces. In April, the FTC announced enforcement actions against three companies: TouchTunes, Americana Liberty, and Oak Street.