President Donald Trump said Big Law firms that so far have pledged $340 million of work on his behalf will help ramp up coal mining and negotiate with foreign countries over tariffs.
“We’re going to use some of those firms to work with you on your leasing and other things,” Trump told miners at the White House on Tuesday. “They’ll do a great job. I think they’re going to do a fantastic job.”
Trump also said the law firms would help with tariff negotiations. “We’re going to use them and we’re getting them for the right price because we need a lot of talent,” Trump said. “We have a lot of countries coming in to make deals.”
Paul Weiss, Skadden, Milbank and Willkie have struck deals with Trump that promise the pro bono legal work on causes agreed to by the Trump administration and the firms. The president didn’t specify Tuesday which law firm would take on the coal or tariff work.
“Lots of law firms have been signing up with Trump,” he said. “They give you $100 million and then they announce that uh, ‘But we have done nothing wrong.’ And I agree, they’ve done nothing wrong. But what the hell, they give me a lot of money considering they’ve done nothing wrong.”
Trump spoke about his deals with Big Law firms at an event where he signed executive orders that he said would use the Defense Production Act to ramp up coal mining. The president also said he would direct Energy Secretary Chris Wright to invest in next-generation coal technology and would ask the Department of Justice to identify and fight “unconstitutional” state and local regulations he said were putting coal miners out of work.
Trump’s deals with law firms came after he issued directives that threatened the businesses of Perkins Coie, Paul Weiss, WilmerHale, and Jenner & Block. Three of those firms, Perkins, Wilmer and Jenner, are fighting the orders in court.
The president’s deals with firms, which he posted on Truth Social media platform, said the law operations will work on causes including fighting antisemitism and supporting veterans’ rights. It’s been an open question how the firms will work with the administration to determine which work they will handle.
“We’ll use some of those people, some of those great firms,” Trump said Tuesday. “They are great firms, too. They just had a bad moment.”
— Ari Natter and Jennifer A. Dlouhy contributed reporting.
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