The first big test of Trump’s second presidential term has arrived in the form of a $34.5 billion merger between Charter Communications and Cox Communications—a deal that fuses the US’s second and sixth-largest cable operators. This delivers a regulatory litmus test with all the hallmarks of Trump-era laissez-faire when it comes to media mega mergers. The merger creates a behemoth with 15.6 million cable TV subscribers (12.9 million Charter; 2.7 million Cox) and a combined 33.5 million broadband customers, enough to leapfrog Comcast as the top broadband provider in the country. Comcast, which currently sits at 31.8 million broadband subscribers and 11.7 million TV customers, probably isn’t sweating too much. After all, Comcast and Charter already share custody of Xumo,…