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Trump admin live updates: Trump strikes deals with law firms totaling $600M

The agreements were with five law firms for pro bono work.

Last Updated: April 13, 2025, 11:58 PM EDT

President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting with his top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as Elon Musk, on Thursday.

It follows Trump on Wednesday changing course on his tariff policy, instituting a 90-day pause in higher taxes for most countries while ramping up the rate against China to 145%.

On Capitol Hill, Republican leaders pushed through a budget blueprint to fund Trump's domestic agenda despite some GOP hard-liner opposition.

Apr 11, 2025, 10:56 PM EDT

Dominion law firm sues to block Trump's 'blatantly unconstitutional' executive order

After becoming the latest target of President Donald Trump, the law firm Susman Godfrey filed a lawsuit Friday night to block what it says is the president's "blatantly unconstitutional" executive order against it.

"The President is abusing the powers of his office to wield the might of the Executive Branch in retaliation against organizations and people that he dislikes," the lawsuit, filed in Washington D.C., states.

For years Susman Godfrey has represented the voting machine company Dominion, famously securing a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News to settle allegations the network aired false claims about the company rigging the 2020 election. Now, the firm says Trump is trying to "punish" them for their work "defending the integrity of the 2020 presidential election."

"If President Trump’s Executive Orders are allowed to stand, future presidents will face no constraint when they seek to retaliate against a different set of perceived foes," the lawsuit states. "What for two centuries has been beyond the pale will become the new normal. Put simply, this could be any of us."

Notably, Susman Godfrey still represents Dominion in its active cases against a number of Trump’s allies -- including Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell and others.

Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order targeting the firm, which seeks to block their access from government buildings and cancel government contracts, among others, over their "previous activities."

In its lawsuit, Susman says that "at least a third" of the firm’s current matters call for their attorneys to appear in federal courts or interact with federal agencies in some way, and that they would be "irreparably harmed" by the order.

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin

Apr 11, 2025, 5:35 PM EDT

Trump-appointed judge rejects White House arguments on AP access block

A Trump-appointed judge late Friday accused the White House of cherry-picking testimony and misconstruing facts in its effort to seek a stay of his order that would, come Sunday, return the Associated Press to the White House press pool.

Judge Trevor McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the government's request for a stay pending appeal.

In a five-page order that ripped at the various rationales the administration has put forward to delay the restoration of the Associated Press' access, the judge reiterated his finding that the Trump White House has retaliated against the Associated Press in violation of its First Amendment rights.

President Donald Trump speaks, as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 9, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

"The motion fails on the law," McFadden said. "But it also misconstrues the facts."

McFadden also said the government "cherry-picked" a quote from the testimony of the Associated Press' Chief White House Correspondent Zeke Miller, who acknowledged under Justice Department cross-examination that the news organization was able to cover events such as the president's press conferences with the leaders of France and the United Kingdom by flying in the reporters who cover them in Paris and London.

"As the court previously found, the AP's text journalists have been systematically banned from large, limited-access events open to the entire White House press corps," McFadden said, adding that the ban the Associated Press has experienced "need not be complete to be unconstitutional or irreparable."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speak to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House, April 9, 2025, in Washington.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

The judge also scolded the Justice Department for changing up its legal arguments in its Wednesday stay request, pointing to "a vague separation-of-powers" concern "for the first time in a motion to stay."

The "clear commands of First Amendment precedent" outweigh those concerns, McFadden said.

-ABC News' Steven Portnoy

Apr 11, 2025, 3:34 PM EDT

Judge allows for migrants without legal status to have to register with federal government

A federal judge on Thursday allowed for the Trump administration to mandate that every migrant in the country without legal status must register with the federal government.

Immigration groups sued the administration over the rule.

Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the advocates would not have the legal standing to succeed, thus the rule, which was scheduled to take effect on Friday, can take place.

"Plaintiffs have failed to show that they have a substantial likelihood of standing," ruled McFadden, a Trump appointee. "As organizations, many of their harms are too speculative, and they have failed to show that the Rule will erode their core missions."

Advocate organizations have contended the rule is "confusingly written and implementing it will cause chaos."

-ABC News' Luke Barr

Apr 11, 2025, 1:44 PM EDT

Trump strikes deals with 5 law firms to avoid targeting

President Donald Trump on Friday announced agreements with five law firms for $600 million in pro bono work. Four of the agreements Trump revealed were with Kirkland & Ellis, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling US, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Latham & Watkins.

He also announced that Cadwalader, Wickersham &Taft agreed to a commitment of $100 million in pro bono services. Cadwalader was the law firm of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, before he represented Trump. Blanche left Cadwalader to represent Trump as his lead attorney.

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 10, 2025, in Washington, DC.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

In this deal, the law firm "voiced their strong commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession," per a statement from the White House that Trump posted.

The other four law firms agreed to commitments of $125 million each and to remove diversity, equity and inclusion considerations from hiring and said they wouldn't deny representation to clients based on political views.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Michelle Stoddart

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