President Donald Trump is close to announcing a sweeping new deal with law firms that he has accused of weaponizing the legal process in favor of his political opponents that would shower the president’s MAGA causes with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of legal work.
That’s according to a Thursday report in The New York Times, which revealed that the four or five law firms would each commit to performing $125 million worth of legal services on issues supported by Trump under the deal. Unlike previous deals with some of the nation’s top law firms, the broad new deal is expected to include “several deals together as one collective concession from the industry,” the report added.
“Mr. Trump’s push for the latest flurry of agreements represents an escalation of his crackdown on an industry that has drawn his ire for its role in seeking to hold him and his allies to account for opposing him politically,’ according to the Times.
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It is still unclear which firms will bow next to Trump’s demands, but the Times noted that Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have all engaged in discussions with the White House in recent days.
Trump, at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, told reporters that the firms may be asked to memorialize trade agreements as the president continues to make international trade a central focus of his economic agenda.
A Trump senior adviser estimated this week that nearly $700 million in legal work has already been committed to the president by firms nationwide, including those whose deals were not yet made public, the Times said.
But many of the firms feel they have few options but to settle, the publication added.
“If they don’t, Mr. Trump’s advisers or associates have said outright or simply implied, they could face executive orders that jeopardize their ability to represent government contractors and limit their access to federal buildings," the Times reported.
It added: "But there’s a cost of doing business with Mr. Trump. These firms are arguably beholden to him for the remainder of his term."