Trump's U-Turn in Big Law Fight Shows White House Fury for Firms

The Trump administration surprised everyone last week when it first dropped an appeal in its fight against four law firms and then, less than 24 hours later, reversed itself and declared the case to be back on.

The White House and Justice Department have yet to explain what prompted the dizzying two-day stretch. Late last week, a DOJ lawyer instead pressed an appeals court to overturn four separate rulings striking down Trump's executive orders against the firms last year.

The about-face has highlighted questions about the legal rationale behind Trump's orders, targeting firms over ties to lawyers and causes the president sees as threats to his administration. But even if Trump ends up losing the appeal, he's already gained a significant amount of leverage from the legal industry in hard-to-quantify ways, according to Bloomberg Law reporters Meghan Tribe and Justin Henry.

On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, they speak with host Jessie Kokrda Kamens about the chaotic events of last week and where the president's battles against the legal industry may be heading next.

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