WASHINGTON, March 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Thursday
withdrew action against a law firm that had infuriated him, after it agreed
to a deal that includes providing $40 million in legal services.

The arm-twisting of a prominent law firm marks the latest triumph for Trump,
who has made no secret of his thirst for revenge over past legal actions
against him.

Last week, the president said he was stripping security clearances from and
curtailing US government contracts with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &
Garrison LLP.

A former partner in the firm, Mark Pomerantz, quit in 2021 to join New York
prosecutors in investigating Trump's alleged lying on financial statements.

Pomerantz quit the investigation a year later, questioning the New York
district attorney's failure to indict Trump, and warning that the then former
president "will not be held fully accountable for his crimes."

In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was rescinding the
executive order after the firm's chairman Brad Karp "acknowledged the
wrongdoing" of Pomerantz.

Trump said the firm -- better known simply as Paul, Weiss -- agreed to offer
$40 million in legal services to "support the Administration's initiatives"
including supporting veterans, promoting "fairness in the Justice System" and
a contribution to a task force against antisemitism.

Trump said Paul, Weiss also agreed to drop initiatives to encourage workplace
diversity which are opposed by the administration.

It marks the latest institution to reach a deal with Trump rather than go
through the costs of legal challenges that they stood a chance of winning.

In December, television network ABC agreed to provide $15 million to Trump's
future presidential library to settle a lawsuit over inaccurate on-air
comments related to Trump.

And last year, Trump was convicted in New York on counts of falsifying
business records to hide hush money paid to an adult film actress.

But a judge ultimately issued no fines nor prison term after Trump won the
presidential election.