The Dictatorship
Trump tips his hand on his plans to deploy conquered law firms
Several major U.S. law firms have bent the knee to President Donald Trump’s illiberal regime in recent weeks, reportedly committing millions of dollars’ worth of free legal services to help Trump’s administration pursue any number of their political goals.
On Friday, Trump announced that five more law firms made deals with his administration in the face of potential punitive action: Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; A&O Shearman; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
In social media posts, Trump claimed the firms have agreed to provide free legal work for things like fighting antisemitism, assisting law enforcement and “ensuring fairness in our justice system.” It’s a rather vague list that seems to leave a lot of room for interpretation. Trump, for example, has used dubious claims of antisemitism to wield authoritarian power over college campuses, has routinely lobbed baseless allegations of voter fraud against liberalsand has vowed to address what he called a “definite anti-white feeling” in the country. So, given the descriptions of the work he has secured from these law firms, there’s certainly potential for him to ask them to assist with his antidemocratic ambitions for the executive branch.
The Guardian reported Friday that, in all, this announcement means Trump “has secured a total of $940 million in pro bono work from some of the most powerful law firms in the U.S.”
As my colleague Steve Benen noted recently, Trump has said the law firms he’s targeted did “nothing wrong,” essentially acknowledging that his efforts were about forcing them into submission more than anything else. And he’s clearly more than happy to have them at his disposal, to pursue all sorts of priorities. Trump has said he wants to use these law firms to aid his destructive trade warremarking several times this week that the law firms could be used to help his administration with trade negotiations.
During a Cabinet meeting Thursday, the president told reporters that his administration may be using lawyers at the firms to help agency heads because you’re going to need a lot of lawyers.” Mr. Trump said he would “try to use these very prestigious firms to help us out with the trade” because of the sizable number of countries with which the U.S. will be negotiating. On Wednesday, while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he signed executive orders, Mr. Trump said that the firms that entered into agreements to avoid being targeted by his directives have together committed at least $340 million in pro bono legal services and suggested that he could tap into that work as his administration prepares to engage in talks over tariffs he has threatened to impose on foreign countries. I think part of the way I’ll spend some of the money that we’re getting from the law firms in terms of their legal time will be — if we can do it, I think we can do it — using these great law firms to represent us with regard to the many, many countries that we’ll be dealing with,” Mr. Trump said.
I don’t imagine the firms Trump has essentially conquered are eager to spend their resources fighting Trump’s trade war, which is widely unpopular and has been denounced by economists for being rooted in shoddy logic. But this is the natural outcome of these law firms acquiescing to Trump.
I agree with former Attorney General Eric Holder, who in a recent interview with Rachel Maddow denounced these law firms as cowardly and rebuked many of them for refusing to stand alongside other law firms that are fighting the Trump administration’s authoritarian attacks on the legal profession.
These firms have essentially placed themselves at the whim of a wannabe kingno matter how petty, economically destructive or antithetical to democracy his ideas may be.
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A man was arrested Friday night at a party during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for allegedly assaulting a Florida congressman.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost wrote on X on Saturday that he was punched in the face by a man who told Frost that President Donald Trump was going to deport him. The altercation occurred at a private party hosted by talent agency CAA at the High West Distillery, a popular venue for festival-adjacent events.
“He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off,” Frost wrote. “The individual was arrested and I am okay.”
Frost, the first Gen Z member of Congress, thanked the venue security and the Park City Police Department for their help. A Park City Police Department representative said officers arrived on the scene just after midnight.
Christian Joel Young, 28, was arrested on charges of aggravated burglary, assaulting an elected official and assault and transported to Summit County Jail, according to court records.
Young appeared to have crashed the party by jumping a fence and had a Sundance Film Festival pass that was not issued in his name, according to the police affidavit.
It was unclear if Young had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. The Associated Press left messages with the Summit County Sheriff’s office and Utah courts in an attempt to request comment from Young or a lawyer.
Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel.
The Sundance Film Festival representatives released a statement saying that they “strongly condemn” the incident, noting that while it occurred at a non-affiliated event that the behavior is “against our values of upholding a welcoming and inspiring environment for all our attendees.”
“The safety and security of our festival attendees is always our chief concern, and our thoughts are with Congressman Frost and his continued well-being,” the statement read. “We encourage anyone with additional information on this matter to contact the Park City Police Department.”
County Judge Richard Mrazik ordered Young held without bail, on the grounds that he would constitute, “a substantial danger to any other individual or to the community, or is likely to flee the jurisdiction of the court if released on bail.” Young has a prior misdemeanor conviction, according to court records.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, denounced the alleged attack and said he won’t let tensions over immigration enforcement in places like Minneapolis spill into Utah.
“Political or racially charged violence of any kind is unacceptable in Utah,” Cox said in a statement. “I’m grateful to local law enforcement for swiftly apprehending the assailant and pursuing justice for Rep. Maxwell Frost.”
Federal immigration enforcement efforts are “welcome and necessary,” he added.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X that he was horrified by what had happened and that “the perpetrator must be aggressively prosecuted.”
“Hate and political violence has no place in our country,” Jeffries continued.
Messages seeking comment were left for representatives for CAA.
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Associated Press writer Hannah Schoenbaum contributed.
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For more coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/sundance-film-festival
Amanda Gorman shared a powerful poem on Instagram that she wrote in honor of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen killed by a federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday.
The poem, “For Alex Jeffrey Pretti,” characterizes Pretti’s killing as a “betrayal” and an “execution.”
Gorman, earlier this month, also paid tribute to Renee Nicole Good, another U.S. citizen killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. In a caption accompanying another poem shared on Instagram, Gorman said she was “horrified by the ongoing violence that ICE wages upon our community. Across our country, we are witnessing discrimination and brutality on an unconscionable scale.”
Her poem says, in part: “You could believe departed to be the dawn/ When the blank night has so long stood./ But our bright-fled angels will never be fully gone,/ When they forever are so fiercely Good.”
The 27-year-old writer and activist famously recited her poem, “Blue Light News We Climb,” at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021. Gorman has also written poems in the wake of other tragedies in the country, including “Hymn for the Hurting,” about the Robb Elementary mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas in 2022. She also performed a poem she wrote about reproductive rights and the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court case in a NowThis video in 2019.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in recordings obtained by Axiosseems to have a bone to pick with Vice President JD Vance and sometimes, President Donald Trump.
In his remarks, which lasted about 10 minutes and were reportedly made in a private meeting with donors sometime last year, Cruz portrays himself as an economically-minded, pro-interventionist who has the president’s ear.
The Texas senator is also heard criticizing former Fox News personality, Tucker Carlson, and his relationship with the vice president. “Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protégé, and they are one and the same,” Cruz told donors.
Cruz, who has clashed with Carlson in the past over foreign intervention policies, bashed the administration’s appointment of Israel critic Daniel Davis to a top national intelligence position. A vocal supporter of Israel himself, Cruz called Davis “a guy who viciously hates Israel,” and credited himself with removing Davis from the job.
The Republican senator also blamed Vance and Carlson for ousting former national security adviser Mike Waltz over similar anti-interventionist sentiments related to Iran.
“[Waltz] supported being vigorous against Iran and bombing Iran — and Tucker and JD took Mike out,” Cruz said.
Cruz also said he has been trying to get the White House to accept a trade agreement with India, but claimed White House economic adviser Peter Navarro, Vance and “sometimes” Trump, are resistant.
Domestically, Cruz cautioned donors about Trump’s tariffs, which he said could result in severe economic and political consequences. Cruz is reportedly heard telling donors that he told the president “if we get to November of [2026] and people’s 401(k)s are down 30% and prices are up 10–20% at the supermarket, we’re going to go into Election Day, face a bloodbath.”
Cruz said a conversation he had with Trump about tariffs “did not go well,” and that Trump was “yelling” and “cursing.” Cruz said Trump told him: “F*** you, Ted.”
“Trump was in a bad mood,” Cruz said. “I’ve been in conversations where he was very happy. This was not one of them.”
In a statement about the recordings, a spokesperson for Cruz said he is “the president’s greatest ally in the Senate and battles every day in the trenches to advance his agenda. Those battles include fights over staffers who try to enter the administration despite disagreeing with the president and seeking to undermine his foreign policy” and that “these attempts at sowing division are pathetic and getting boring.”
In an email responding to MS NOW’s request for comment on Cruz’s reported statements, the White House did not address Cruz’s statements.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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