Automated Summary (Subject To Error)
• President Trump has launched an organized “retribution campaign” against elite American institutions since November 2024, with most targets quickly capitulating
• Major law firms made deals with Trump:
- Paul, Weiss pledged $40M in pro bono services to Trump-supported causes
- Skadden Arps promised $100M in free legal work before Trump took action
- Some firms (Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block) chose to fight in court
• Media organizations have settled or adjusted:
- ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit for $15M toward Trump’s presidential library
- CBS News appears poised to settle for millions
- Washington Post and LA Times adjusted editorial content to please the White House
• Universities have complied with demands:
- Columbia University agreed to nine policy changes to unfreeze $400M in federal funding
- Many hired Republican lobbyists to maintain good relations with the administration
• Key reasons for compliance include:
- Financial self-preservation and desire to return to business as usual
- Extensive financial entanglements between private institutions and federal government
- Wealthy institutions paradoxically more vulnerable due to multiple pressure points
- Limited collective resistance as “everybody’s looking out for number one”
The AI summary is excellent, but probably limited its bullet points to what was directly discussed in the article. There are a couple of other points that should be added to the list.
Harvard and Yale have also made policy changes and removed employees in capitulation to Trump in an effort to avoid being targeted similar to what happened to Columbia.
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski made a trip to Mar-A-Lago to apologize to Trump for past news coverage and promised to cover him more favorably in hopes to avoid Trump’s retribution.