Education
What Has the Trump Administration Gotten From Law Firms and Universities?
Harvard University claimed a victory in its legal case against the Trump administration on Wednesday, when a federal judge ruled that the government broke the law by freezing billions of dollars in research funding. The ruling, which the administration has pledged to appeal, potentially gave Harvard new leverage in its battle toward a settlement to restore funding, in exchange for payments demanded by President Trump.
About a dozen other universities and major law firms have struck deals with the government in recent months — instead of taking cases to court — to unfreeze funding or avoid restrictive executive orders.
Mr. Trump has used the full force of the federal government — opening civil rights investigations, freezing federal funding and threatening to cancel government contracts — to push for these agreements. These deals have reverberated across the legal industry and academia, and they could shape how other institutions respond to Mr. Trump’s methods.
Most of the deals involve paying millions of dollars, either in cash or legal services, to the administration. But the deals also include other concessions, like commitments to redefine discrimination, acquiesce to more government oversight and assess ideology.
Below, we break down what these deals have in common.
1. Money or legal services
Much of the focus around these deals has been around the money that Mr. Trump has demanded from each entity, payable either to his administration, or to state or compensation funds.
| Brown University | $50 million over 10 years |
Rhode Island work force development organizations |
| Columbia University | $200 million over 3 years |
The U.S. Treasury |
| $21 million | A compensation fund to resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish Columbia employees | |
| Nine major law firms | Legal services worth: $940 million |
The Trump administration, for causes like assisting veterans and law enforcement, ensuring fairness in the justice system and combating antisemitism |
| Paul Weiss | $40 million | |
| Skadden | $100 million | |
| Willkie | $100 million | |
| Milbank | $100 million | |
| Cadwalader | $100 million | |
| Kirkland & Ellis | $125 million | |
| Latham & Watkins | $125 million | |
| Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | $125 million | |
| A&O Shearman | $125 million |
The universities have taken varied approaches to their payments. Columbia agreed to pay a fine to the federal government. Brown’s payment will go to Rhode Island work force development programs, which the university’s president has said are aligned with their service and community engagement missions.
Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s methods of extracting money from these entities to extortion.
The law firms have faced internal backlash and external criticism for promising to pour resources into causes favored by the president. Shortly after the deals with them were signed, Mr. Trump publicly suggested that he might use their labor to achieve more of his own goals, including in the negotiations of trade deals or even representing him personally.
Other businesses, including Nvidia and Intel, have been drawn into making financial deals with the Trump administration in order to continue doing business or to sell their products to China. The specific details of most of those deals have not been made public.
2. Redefining discrimination
On his first day in office, Mr. Trump signed executive orders gutting racial equity policies and protections for transgender people. Those themes, along with addressing antisemitism and targeting international students, were evident in many of these agreements.
No “unlawful D.E.I. goals”: Columbia and Brown agreed to eliminate programs that aim to achieve diversity goals. (Both universities had already eliminated race-conscious affirmative action following a June 2023 Supreme Court decision outlawing it.) They promised to rely more on quantitative measures, instead of demographics, in their admissions practices.
Columbia University
“… shall maintain merit-based admissions policies. Columbia may not, by any means, unlawfully preference applicants based on race, color, or national origin in admissions throughout its programs. No proxy for racial admission will be implemented or maintained.”
Experts say relying on test scores and grades in admissions could result in wealthier, less diverse student populations at these elite institutions.
Law firms were similarly subject to these rules in their hiring practices.
Skadden | Cadwalader | Kirkland & Ellis | Latham & Watkins | A&O Shearman | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | Milbank | Willkie
“… affirms its commitment to merit-based hiring, promotion, and retention. Accordingly, the Firm will not engage in illegal DEI discrimination and preferences.”
Transgender students: The University of Pennsylvania has been central in the debate around transgender athletes, specifically because of Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer who graduated in 2022 and held several of Penn’s swimming records. The school’s deal with Mr. Trump revoked her records and limited how transgender students may participate in its athletic programs.
University of Pennsylvania
“… will not allow male students to compete in any athletic program restricted to women, ensuring that only female students are eligible to compete as a member of women’s athletics.”
In this way, the university bowed to the administration’s new interpretation of Title IX, a law that until recently protected transgender athletes from sex discrimination in education.
Penn and the other universities also agreed to additional rules around single-sex facilities and medical services for transgender students.
Columbia University
“… will uphold its commitment to Title IX … by providing safe and fair opportunities for women including single-sex housing for women who request such housing and all-female sports, locker rooms, and showering facilities …”
Brown University
“… will not perform gender reassignment surgery or prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to any minor child for the purpose of aligning the child’s appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex.”
According to Brown, the number of minors enrolled at the university is typically less than 10 percent of all first-year undergraduates; the campus does not have surgical facilities; and its doctors do not typically prescribe puberty blockers.
Fighting antisemitism: Columbia agreed to pay $21 million to a compensation fund to resolve alleged civil rights violations against its Jewish employees. It also agreed to a review of its regional studies programs, starting with the Middle East, to ensure that they are “comprehensive and balanced.” The agreement does not define how those terms will be applied.
The school will also appoint new faculty members who will have joint positions in both the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and other departments, and add a student liaison to coordinate and advise on antisemitism issues.
Both Columbia’s and Brown’s agreements have provisions outlining support for Jewish life on campus.
Brown University
“… is committed to taking significant, proactive, effective steps to combat antisemitism and ensure a campus environment free from harassment and discrimination. These shall include actions to support a thriving Jewish community, research and education about Israel, and a robust Program in Judaic Studies, through outreach to Jewish Day School students to provide information about applying to Brown, resources for religiously observant Jewish community members, renewed partnerships with Israeli academics and national Jewish organizations, support for enhanced security at the Brown-RISD Hillel, and a convening of alumni, students, and faculty to celebrate 130 years of Jewish life at Brown in the 2025-2026 academic year.”
International students: Columbia’s agreement with the Trump administration outlines provisions on international students, including asking them their reasons for wanting to study in the United States and reducing the school’s reliance on international student enrollment. (Columbia has about 13,700 international students, about 38 percent of its total student body.)
Columbia University
“… will examine its business model and take steps to decrease financial dependence on international student enrollment. The reforms should be made durable by adoption of any necessary organizational and personnel changes.”
3. Government oversight
Through the deals with Columbia and Brown, the Trump administration also gained access to information about their applicants, including details on race, grades and test scores.
Columbia University | Brown University
“… shall provide … the United States with admissions data … showing both rejected and admitted students broken down by race, color, grade point average, and performance on standardized tests, in a form permitting appropriate statistical analyses by October 1 of each year …”
Both schools are also required to make anonymized information on enrolled students available to the public, including demographics and grade point averages of each class.
Columbia also agreed to pay for a monitor, approved by the school and the government, to ensure that both sides abide by their commitments. It must now also inform the Department of Homeland Security when an international student is arrested. (Universities were already required to inform Homeland Security when an international student was suspended or expelled.)
Brown agreed to hire an external organization to conduct a campus survey by the end of the year on the school’s climate for Jewish students.
Similarly, the law firms also agreed to hire outside counsel to ensure adherence.
Paul Weiss
“… will engage experts, to be mutually agreed upon within 14 days, to conduct a comprehensive audit of all of its employment practices …”
Willkie
“… will engage independent outside counsel to advise the Firm in confirming that employment practices are fully compliant with Law …”
4. Assessing ideology
Some of the law firms targeted by Mr. Trump were associated with lawyers who have previously investigated him, or who have worked closely with those who did. Other firms had prominent Democrats on staff, or employed people who frequently criticized the president.
To that end, in each of their agreements, the law firms agreed to work on a wider range of cases, regardless of the political affiliation of the lawyer or prospective client.
Paul Weiss
“… will take on a wide range of pro bono matters that represent the full spectrum of political viewpoints of our society, whether ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal.’”
Milbank
“… shall not deny representation to any clients on the basis of the political affiliation of the prospective client, or because of the opposition of any Government Official.”
Kirkland & Ellis | Latham & Watkins | A&O Shearman | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
“… will not deny representation to clients … because of the personal political views of individual lawyers.”
In return for the concessions, Mr. Trump revoked his executive order against the law firm Paul Weiss that would have suspended its security clearances, restricted its access to federal buildings and threatened its contracts with the government. The eight other law firms struck deals pre-emptively to avoid being subject to similar executive orders.
For most of the universities, the administration restored hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding that it had previously frozen. It also closed pending investigations into the schools of antisemitism or alleged violations of civil rights. Both the presidents of Columbia and Brown have publicly stated that these deals preserve the schools’ academic freedom.
Brown University
Yes
Yes Yes
–
No
Columbia University
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
University of Pennsylvania
–
No
Yes
– No
–
No
Nine major law firms
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Concessions in deals with the Trump administration
What’s next
Like Harvard, four major law firms have fought back against the president instead of striking a deal. Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Susman Godfrey, and Jenner & Block all filed lawsuits, which resulted in federal judges temporarily blocking Mr. Trump’s executive orders targeting them. The administration has recently begun to appeal these rulings.
Several other law firms have been questioned by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on their hiring practices and potential discrimination against white candidates, raising concerns of threats from the White House.
The Trump administration has vowed to appeal the court’s ruling that its funding cuts against Harvard were illegal. It remains unclear whether the school will receive its money. Mr. Trump has also frozen federal funding to other universities, including Princeton, Cornell, Duke, Northwestern and the University of California, Los Angeles, setting the stage for potential negotiations. In August, the administration proposed that U.C.L.A. pay more than $1 billion to reach a settlement. This month, after a difficult tenure that included attacks from Republicans in Congress and funding cuts, the president of Northwestern resigned.
Several other schools are watching for funding cuts as they come under the scrutiny of the Department of Education and a government task force that says it is devoted to rooting out antisemitism.
Sources
This analysis is based on publicly available text pertaining to the agreements between the Trump administration and Brown University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Cadwalader, Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, Milbank, Willkie, Skadden and Paul Weiss.
This article was very thought provoking and caused me to thoroughly evaluate the idea of gender and the role it plays in our society. The article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender norms. I do not necessarily see this as a problem. God made male and female and made us differently from each other on purpose and for a purpose. God is very intentional with what He makes, and I believe trying to change that would only do more harm. Gender roles and tendencies should not be considered “stereotypes”. Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men. God created men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men and we should live our lives with that in mind.
It is frustrating to me when I read articles like this and discussion posts from my classmates of so many people trying to conform to the same mundane opinion, so they do not step on people’s toes. I think that is a cowardly and insincere way to live. It is important to use the freedom of speech we have been given in this country, and I personally believe that eliminating gender in our society would be detrimental, as it pulls us farther from God’s original plan for humans. It is perfectly normal for kids to follow gender “stereotypes” because that is how God made us. The reason so many girls want to feel womanly and care for others in a motherly way is not because they feel pressured to fit into social norms. It is because God created and chose them to reflect His beauty and His compassion in that way. In Genesis, God says that it is not good for man to be alone, so He created a helper for man (which is a woman). Many people assume the word “helper” in this context to be condescending and offensive to women. However, the original word in Hebrew is “ezer kenegdo” and that directly translates to “helper equal to”. Additionally, God describes Himself in the Bible using “ezer kenegdo”, or “helper”, and He describes His
Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s regular quiz about books, authors and literary culture. This week’s challenge tests your memory of random facts and information you may have picked up, especially from reading book coverage from The Times in recent years. In the five multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to the books if you’d like to do further reading.
Since the start of his second term, President Trump has cut budgets, made demands on public institutions, and attacked the media and speech in actions regularly called unprecedented.
In April, we asked presidential historians if they could come up with comparable examples in previous administrations — and to tell us when they couldn’t. You can read that earlier article here.
We went back to the historians (and some political scientists) to help us categorize the administration’s actions and pronouncements that have happened since: whether they’re unprecedented, relatively common or somewhere in between.
No clear precedent
President Trump has taken some actions that do not have a comparable historical example, according to historians.
Used the military to attack and kill suspected drug smugglers
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has ordered the military to kill people aboard boats he says have been smuggling drugs, claiming the power to redefine drug trafficking as armed conflict.
IN THE PAST
Historians said the closest parallels to Mr. Trump’s strikes in international waters were attacks on pirates — from Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on Barbary corsairs to Barack Obama’s use of military force against Somali pirates in 2009. But President Obama’s efforts were largely rescue missions; Jefferson was also responding to the capture of American ships.
“Since the 1970s, presidents have claimed the right to take military action, including murderous assaults, against nonstate actors who threaten the United States,” said Jeremi Suri, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. However, he said, “the United States has generally not targeted drug smugglers in this way.”
“The U.S. has helped other governments in Central America to apprehend drug traffickers. No presidents have unilaterally killed alleged drug smugglers in international waters.”
Manisha Sinha
Professor of American History, University of Connecticut
No clear precedent
Cast doubt on vaccine efficacy and safety
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, the Trump administration has begun to overhaul American vaccine policy. A vaccine skeptic, Mr. Kennedy replaced a vaccine advisory panel with handpicked members. The panel ended a decades-long recommendation to vaccinate babies against hepatitis B at birth. Mr. Kennedy also canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and contracts to develop mRNA vaccines. Mr. Trump hailed Covid vaccines as a miracle during his first term but has since questioned whether they work, and Mr. Kennedy has called them “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
IN THE PAST
Previous presidents have typically promoted vaccines. The government has changed the vaccine schedule and pulled recommendations for vaccines before, including for a rotavirus gastroenteritis vaccine in the 1990s. And manufacturers have voluntarily withdrawn vaccines from the market. But no presidential administration has made such an effort to dismantle vaccine policy.
“Other presidents tried to expand vaccines. This goes all the way back to George Washington during the Revolutionary War, who mandated smallpox inoculations for his army.”
Robert Watson
Professor of History, Lynn University
No clear precedent
Asked states to gerrymander to add more seats for his party
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump and his aides have pushed for lawmakers across the country to redraw maps in favor of Republicans.
IN THE PAST
This has not been done publicly, though an adviser to George W. Bush, Karl Rove, was reported to have lobbied state legislators to redistrict in 2003.
“No previous president has done this so overtly, but gerrymandering for political advantage has been a basic tool of political parties since the earliest years of the republic.”
Kendrick Clements
Professor, University of South Carolina
No clear precedent
Owned a company that received a major investment from a sovereign state
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
Earlier this year, a state-controlled United Arab Emirates firm used $2 billion of cryptocurrency issued by World Liberty Financial — a start-up owned by the Trump family — to invest in a crypto exchange. That effectively serves as a huge deposit for World Liberty, which can then generate returns in the tens of millions of dollars each year.
IN THE PAST
Historians said there was no comparable example.
“Past presidents took pains to put their holdings in a blind trust or to divest entirely from identifiable individual companies.”
Andrew Rudalevige Professor of Government, Bowdoin College
No clear precedent
Tried to remove a member of the Federal Reserve Board
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump tried to fire a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook, accusing her of mortgage fraud. (The Supreme Court stopped the firing until it could hear arguments in January, and she maintains her innocence.) It’s part of a broader, stated effort to gain more influence over the board.
IN THE PAST
Presidents have fought with the Fed before; under President Harry Truman, the head of the Board of Governors resigned amid a disagreement with the administration. But no president has directly fired a Federal Reserve official.
“They have often put pressure on the Fed, but I don’t know of any president who has claimed the power to fire a sitting governor and tried to carry it out.”
David Greenberg Professor of History, Rutgers University
No clear precedent
Ended data collection efforts across government
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The Trump administration has stopped or plans to stop collecting data on environmental disasters, climate change, food insecurity, emissions from polluters and more.
IN THE PAST
No president has stopped data collection at such a scale.
“There have been other presidents who have appointed people as heads of agencies but who opposed the missions of those agencies. But that is a far cry from eliminating the government’s longstanding practices of producing reliable data, on nearly everything of concern to the public and for which the government is responsible.”
Michael Gerhardt
Professor of Jurisprudence, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Law School
No clear precedent
Ordered a review of public museums to align with administration views
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The White House told the Smithsonian Institution — a museum group founded and funded by the federal government — that it would have 120 days to change any content that the administration found problematic in “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”
IN THE PAST
There’s no comparison for such a broad and public demand on the nation’s museums, historians said.
There have been instances of perceived pressure, or limited influence. A former Smithsonian administrator claimed that the National Museum of Natural History toned down an exhibit on climate change during the George W. Bush administration. And it was reported that the Nixon administration told what is now the National Museum of American History to close an exhibit on voting rights ahead of a ball that was part of Nixon’s second inauguration.
No clear precedent
Cast doubt on official Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs numbers
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump claimed without evidence that weak job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were “rigged” and fired the agency’s commissioner.
IN THE PAST
No president has done this publicly and so directly in the years the Bureau of Labor has been collecting and publishing data. (Since the late 1800s.) Ronald Reagan once said a framing of B.L.S. data was misleading, but didn’t question the data itself. Richard Nixon’s administration made some changes to how B.L.S. reported monthly data. But when he threw doubt on the B.L.S., it was in private conversation. (It was eventually revealed that he had blamed Jewish people working at the agency for unfavorable statistics.)
“Presidents have always spun bad numbers; few have declared war on arithmetic itself.”
Alexis Coe
Presidential historian and senior fellow at New America
No clear precedent
Sought damages from the Justice Department for federal investigations into him
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump is reported to have demanded that the Justice Department pay him $230 million in compensation for past investigations into his actions.
IN THE PAST
There’s no real comparison, historians say. Andrew Jackson was once fined for suspending habeas corpus; he lobbied Congress for a refund. But that lobbying took place after his presidency, said Matthew Warshauer, professor of history at Central Connecticut State University. (It was successful.)
Has happened, but under different circumstances
In several cases, Mr. Trump’s actions are precedented, but there are details that make them different: scale, context, motivation or results.
The following are events in which our scholars did not always agree on the extent of a precedent.
Sent the National Guard to cities
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has expanded the role of the National Guard, deploying its troops to cities as part of a stated federal crackdown on crime. In several cases, governors or local officials have sued to block the deployments.
IN THE PAST
Presidents have deployed the National Guard to cities numerous times, including to protect civil rights advocates marching from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama; to enforce Brown v. Board of Education in Little Rock, Ark.; in response to the 1992 Los Angeles riots; to quell a riot in Detroit in 1943; and to help Hurricane Andrew relief efforts in Florida.
But in most cases, unlike President Trump, presidents deployed the National Guard at the request of, or with the cooperation of, state lawmakers. (That was not the case when presidents used the National Guard to support integration in Arkansas and protect civil rights activists in Alabama.)
“With the exception of using troops to protect American citizens during the height of civil rights reform, American presidents have typically respected the authority of states and only mobilized troops at the request of state lawmakers.”
Nicole L. Anslover
Associate Professor of History, Florida Atlantic University
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Directed the attorney general to investigate or prosecute political rivals
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi and his Justice Department to investigate or seek criminal charges against his perceived enemies, including George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor; the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey; and the New York attorney general Letitia James.
IN THE PAST
Nixon also tried to use the federal government — including the Department of Justice — to go after his “enemies list” through investigations and other legal harassment. One memo from his White House counsel describes “how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.”
But “it was on a limited case-by-case basis, and many of his own appointees and federal workers thwarted his illegalities,” said Robert Watson, a professor of history at Lynn University.
“Nixon tried to act in secrecy and deny his vendettas.”
Jeremi Suri
Professor of History and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Carried out large-scale immigration raids
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
Federal agents have conducted immigration enforcement raids in several Democrat-led cities, arresting and detaining thousands in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, N.C., among others.
IN THE PAST
Eisenhower carried out deportations of illegal immigrants, known at the time as “Operation Wetback.” These targeted Mexican migrants, and they were more focused on agricultural border areas than major cities.
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Arranged for a government stake in a U.S. company
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The Trump administration allowed Japan’s Nippon Steel to take over U.S. Steel in exchange for a “golden share” giving the White House a permanent say in the company’s business. (The Trump administration has also purchased shares or options in other private companies involved in minerals, nuclear energy and semiconductors.)
IN THE PAST
The U.S. government received shares of auto companies while bailing them out during the Great Recession in 2009, but it sold those within a few years to recoup some of the money it had spent.
The Trump effort has centered on national security concerns. Prior administrations have taken control of the private sector briefly during wartime, but those were not ongoing ownership stakes.
“I can’t think of an example when companies were forced to pay premiums of this sort to the U.S. government — even giving federal actors formal long-term decision-making authority for corporate behavior — as a cost of doing business.”
Andrew Rudalevige
Professor of Government, Bowdoin College
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Carried out a major demolition and renovation of the White House
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The Trump administration took down the East Wing of the White House to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
IN THE PAST
The White House went through a demolition and renovation under President Truman, when the building was in danger of physical collapse.
Other presidents have made renovations — including significant expansions — but historians could not name another demolition of a major part of the building.
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Struck a deal with drug companies to sell prescriptions at lower prices and set up an online drugstore with the president’s name
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has tried to lower prescription drug prices through two primary channels: He has made deals with numerous major drugmakers (including Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly) to sell drugs to Medicaid at lower prices; and he has committed to starting TrumpRx, a portal through which patients can buy drugs directly from drugmakers.
IN THE PAST
Previous presidents have tried various strategies to make prescription drugs more affordable, including negotiating with industry. (Most recently, the Biden administration brought drugmakers to the negotiating table.)
A marketplace with the president’s name on it is new.
“Earlier efforts to cut drug costs — Bill Clinton’s aborted price-control proposals, George W. Bush’s Medicare Part D expansion, Barack Obama’s negotiation push under the Affordable Care Act — were policy fights, not product launches.”
Alexis Coe Presidential historian and senior fellow at New America
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Pulled back public infrastructure grants in mostly blue states
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The Trump administration has frozen and terminated grants for infrastructure that were largely set to be in districts that vote Democratic, and the president has bragged about it. “A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” Mr. Trump said in October. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.” (Some Republican districts have also lost projects.)
IN THE PAST
Pulling back funds already allocated is unusual, scholars told The Times. Presidents have often directed government benefits to key constituencies and favored states and districts, but not in such a public and direct manner.
When Nixon’s administration made large cuts to military bases in the early 1970s, states in the Northeast were hit the hardest, leading to speculation that politics played a role.
“Presidents have always played politics with public monies, although often as discreetly as possible.”
Stephen F. Knott
Emeritus Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Signed large cuts to health care programs into law
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The sprawling policy bill pushed by the president and passed by Republicans in July contained more than $1.1 trillion in cuts to health care programs, including roughly $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid — about 11 percent of projected spending on the program over a decade.
IN THE PAST
Under President Reagan, Congress reduced Medicaid and Medicare spending. Medicaid cuts in the early 1980s totaled $1 billion each year, around 5 percent of annual Medicaid spending. The cuts came in the form of smaller payments to states, which then cut services. (People forced off welfare rolls by Reagan’s administration often lost Medicaid benefits, too.) George W. Bush signed into law policy changes that made smaller reductions in Medicaid spending.
The Affordable Care Act, signed by President Obama in 2010, included more than $700 billion in reductions to Medicare, though the bill increased spending on health care overall.
“Since the beginning of federal health care programs in the 1930s, policymakers have been more likely to expand than cut such programs.”
Kendrick Clements Professor, University of South Carolina
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Auctioned face-to-face access
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
Mr. Trump invited people who spent the most on his personal cryptocurrency to a White House gala dinner.
IN THE PAST
Many presidents have rewarded their major donors with special privileges. (Bill Clinton gave some top donors meals, outings and overnight stays; major fund-raisers also stayed overnight in George W. Bush’s White House; and inaugurations have long been a way for donors to get close to the president.) But Mr. Trump, not his campaign, personally benefited from the crypto investments.
“The standards of White House conduct related to maintaining proper distance from acts of bribery, perceived or real, have demonstrably deteriorated over the years. In 1958, White House chief of staff Sherman Adams was forced to resign from the Eisenhower administration because he had accepted a vicuña overcoat and a rug from a Boston businessman under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.”
Russell Riley
Professor of Ethics and Institutions, University of Virginia’s Miller Center
Has happened, but under different circumstances
Attacked the media, including suing newspapers
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has directed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The Times. He has also sued Paramount (before starting his second term) over a Kamala Harris interview; blocked reporters from parts of the White House where they’ve been allowed for decades; threatened to pull broadcasters’ licences over late-night hosts he dislikes; imposed restrictions on military reporters; and persuaded Congress to cut funding for public media.
IN THE PAST
No other sitting president has specifically filed a defamation lawsuit against a newspaper. (Theodore Roosevelt did sue a small-town newspaper for libel for accusations of drunkenness, but only after leaving office.)
There is, however, a long history of attempts by presidential administrations to pressure the news media over critical coverage. Abraham Lincoln shut down pro-Confederacy newspapers during the Civil War and arrested their editors; in World War I, the government charged some journalists who opposed the war under the Espionage Act; the Nixon administration tried to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Nixon also listed journalists on his “enemies list” and ordered wiretaps of reporters.
“White House grumping about critical coverage is an age-old feature of the Washington community. But rarely has this gone beyond a sharp elbow in the press room or maybe a back-channel call to the publisher to yelp.”
Russell Riley
Professor of Ethics and Institutions, University of Virginia’s Miller Center
Not uncommon
A few of Mr. Trump’s moves are, if not standard practice, still actions that other U.S. presidents have taken in recent decades.
Put on a military parade
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
In June, President Trump presided over a procession of troops, weaponry and military vehicles in Washington in commemoration of the Army’s 250th birthday and his own 79th.
IN THE PAST
Large-scale military parades aren’t uncommon, though they often happen during or at the close of a war. Among other examples, George H.W. Bush held a large military parade in 1991 after the Persian Gulf War, and John F. Kennedy hosted one during his inaugural in 1961, at the height of the Cold War.
Not uncommon
Established fast-track visas for wealthy immigrants
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The president has launched a program that is intended to allow people to buy legal residency in the U.S. with a $1 million “contribution” to the U.S. government.
IN THE PAST
The U.S. has long had a program that allows entrance to wealthy immigrants: the EB-5 program, for people willing to invest $1 million (less in some circumstances) in a business that would hire Americans. President Trump’s program is new in style — it’s called the “gold card” — but not in function.
“Bill Clinton created the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, with Obama extending the idea to the Regional Center Pilot Program. It’s actually not a new thing what President Trump is doing.”
Thomas Balcerski
Presidential Historian, Eastern Connecticut State University
Not uncommon
Helped broker an agreement for a cease-fire in Gaza, and an exchange of hostages and prisoners
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
The administration’s deal between Hamas and Israel in October — which Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, helped broker — resulted in a cease-fire and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
IN THE PAST
It’s common for American presidents to step in and help negotiate deals between Israel and Arab nations; President Biden negotiated a cease-fire and prisoner exchange, though the deal fell apart.
“President Trump should be applauded for his effort in the Mideast. This is his greatest foreign policy achievement so far.”
Wilbur C. Rich
Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College
Not uncommon
Pulled back United Nations funding
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump has withdrawn or frozen U.S. funding for several agencies within the U.N., including the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council.
IN THE PAST
The Reagan administration, claiming mismanagement at the U.N., withheld funds in the 1980s. George W. Bush withheld money from the U.N.’s Population Fund over concerns about abortion and other family planning issues.
“The anti-U.N. rhetoric has been part of the Republican political discourse for some time.”
Manisha Sinha
Professor of American History, University of Connecticut
Not uncommon
Attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities
TRUMP’S ACTIONS
President Trump ordered an attack on three key nuclear sites in Iran in June, without seeking congressional authorization.
IN THE PAST
Though Mr. Trump was the first to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, previous administrations have engaged in sabotage of Iranian nuclear systems — including the George W. Bush and Obama administrations’ development and use of the computer worm Stuxnet. (That was a destructive program that targeted centrifuges and delayed Tehran’s ability to make nuclear weapons.)
More broadly, presidents have long taken military actions without congressional sign-off.
About the data
For this project, we reached out to dozens of historians and political scientists, including some participants of C-SPAN’s Presidential Historians Survey. We asked them to provide us with relevant precedent to specific Trump actions, if there were any, and to describe how those precedents were and were not similar to what Mr. Trump has done.
We received responses from 36 experts. In addition to those we quoted, we used notes and research from: Andrew Bacevich, Paul Brandus, Vernon Burton, Jeffrey Engel, Michael A. Genovese, Harold Holzer, Chandler James, Scott Kaufman, Thomas J. Knock, Douglas L. Kriner, Allan Lichtman, Bruce Miroff, Barbara Perry, Gary Richardson, Robert Schmuhl, Craig Shirley, Brooks Simpson, Robert Strong, Tevi Troy, Mark K. Updegrove, Ted Widmer, B. Dan Wood and David B. Woolner.
We categorized actions based on the overall responses, along with additional reporting and research.
Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus of the Presidential Greatness Project assisted in establishing a list of historians and constructing the initial survey.
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