Quick Hitter: The Art of the (Insidious) Deal

May 02, 2025

Donald Trump’s greatest con is how he has gotten almost the entire world to believe the mythology that he is some sort of deal-making savant. I work in the NYC real estate field, and trust me, folks here are quite well aware as to the “art” of his dealing.1

Considering that, it pains me to realize that he may have actually pulled off an amazing deal. Don’t get me wrong, it’s horrible for pretty much everyone, and it’s more likely than not that he had nothing to do with its genesis, but here we are.

I will admit that when Trump attacked the big law firms, I figured that he was just being the petty asshole that he is. After all, the first few firms had pretty direct connections to some of the harder things he had to deal with post-Presidency, so it made a sort of Trumpian sense. What I failed to realize was just how diabolical his actions really are.

Lawfare

The vast majority of Trump’s vindictive Executive Orders have no legal leg to stand on, including every order attacking these law firms. The handful of firms that chose to fight his bullshit are kicking his ass in court, but far more capitulated in hopes that the terms of surrender would not harm their bottom line as much as going toe-to-toe with the Dictator in Chief might. Every firm that caved to Trump included some amount of pro-bono work that they would do “to support President Trump’s agenda”. The announcements made this work sound noble… fighting antisemitism, protecting veterans, etc. Of course, when dealing with Trump, you have to know that the initial bill is far from the last that will come due, as these firms are likely finding out now.

It was well known that, due to the fact that MAGA won both houses of Congress, that the only thing standing in the way of what Trump would want to do in a second term would be the courts. When he first started attacking the law firms, I assumed that he was doing so to dilute the pool of capable firms that could be hired to fight against his overreach. While this may be partially the case, we are starting to see some far more sinister applications come to light. He is going to use these firms to fight his legal battles, for free.

Let’s take a look at an Executive Order that was quietly released this week. In addition to setting up the grounds for what sounds ominously like Martial Law, there is this little bit:

So now the Paul, Weiss’ of the world will be forced to represent crooked and abusive cops in court. Hey, it’s a part of the President’s Agenda that you agreed to help with. Good job guys.

Yesterday’s Executive Order instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease funding for PBS and NPR is, of course, illegal. The funding for those institutions is appropriated by Congress, and the CPB is not a part of the Executive Branch and can therefore legally tell Trump to fuck off. In fact, they are trying to (legally) do so right now, as they sued him after he (illegally) fired the board.

But this is where “the art of the deal” shows up. You see, just like the law firms, Harvard, whoever… most of these institutions do not have endless resources to continue to fight legal battles ad infinitum. But Trump kinda does. By going after the law firms first, he has amassed nearly one billion dollars in pro-bono work to use as he sees fit. So, he can do what he has always done, sue everyone into the ground. He doesn’t even have to win; he just has to persevere.

The “art”2 comes from the fact that these firms, by and large, were always considered somewhat liberal, and now he is making them attack institutions which they almost certainly support. It’s disgusting, but sadly not unexpected from this guy. By getting the firms to do this work pro-bono, he avoids the inevitable exposure that spending tens or hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on his legal escapades. It just further cements the absolute cowardice that these firms displayed when they put their bottom line before their honor, and their country.

Hell, Mexico never did pay for the wall, but these “esteemed” firms are essentially paying for Trump’s vindictiveness.

Stay Strong and Take Care, Together

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