Donald Trump says law firms giving him 'a lot of money' proves he's 'doing something right'

WASHINGTON, DC: In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has ramped up his war against major legal powerhouses, issuing a flurry of executive orders aimed squarely at law firms that have employed lawyers who once worked for his political opponents.

His orders targeted their federal contracts and even their security clearances, effectively kicking their attorneys out of government buildings and cutting them off from sensitive material.

While four firms push back, several others have reportedly agreed to provide millions in pro bono work for the Trump administration as part of their deals.

Donald Trump defends using threats and lawsuits

Speaking with TIME magazine’s Eric Cortellessa, Donald Trump made it crystal clear: to him, these developments are not signs of overreach, they’re signs of victory, Mediate reported.

Cortellessa noted, "You’ve used threats and lawsuits, other forms of coercion."

Trump replied, "Well, I’ve gotta be doing something right, because I’ve had a lot of law firms give me a lot of money."

Pressed further about whether this is an appropriate use of presidential power, Trump leaned into his signature justification.

He asked, "Well, I think it is because I think they felt that the election was rigged and stolen and they didn’t want to be a part of it. You think they gave me $100 million each for nothing?"

"You know, these law firms gave me $100 million worth of work, et cetera, and other things. And do you think they gave me that because I’m a nice guy? I don’t think so. They gave it to me because they knew what they did wrong and they didn’t want to get involved with it. And that’s okay. That’s the way it works, unfortunately," Trump added. 

Donald Trump shrugs off extortion claims

When Eric Cortellessa pushed him again on whether threatening firms into cutting deals and working pro bono for his preferred causes was essentially extortion, Donald Trump brushed off the suggestion.

Cortellessa said, "But that is an appropriate use of presidential power, you think?

Trump reverted, "They pay–these are the top firms in the world. These are the biggest, the best: Cravath, Milbank Tweed, Paul Weiss. These are the toughest, smartest firms. They don’t, they don’t do this unless there’s a little problem or a big problem."

"Isn’t cutting a deal with them to remove a threat from you and to do pro bono work for causes you like just a form of extortion?" Cortellessa asked. 

Trump then said, "I don’t think it was a threat. I think they did that because I assume they did it because they felt they did something wrong. Otherwise they would have, we would have had a lawsuit."

But not everyone is accepting Trump’s narrative.

On April 24, two of the firms that Trump targeted, Perkins Coie and WilmerHale, took their fight to court.

Both firms filed separate motions asking judges to permanently block the president’s executive orders, calling them clear acts of political retaliation.

"The entire executive order is retaliatory," a lawyer for Perkins Coie argued in court.