President Trump has extracted more than $1.2 billion in settlements from 13 of the most powerful players in academia, law, media and tech, according to an analysis by Axios' Zachary Basu.

• If finalized, a potential $500 million deal with Harvard would be the biggest score yet.

Why it matters: America's most elite institutions have largely succumbed to the Trump administration's cultural crackdown, opting to pay up — often to the tune of tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars — rather than fight back.

• Trump officials frame the settlements as accountability for society's liberal power centers, which they say have been captured by leftist ideology, corrupted by DEI and complicit in antisemitism.
• Critics say the deals — some of which include direct payments or pro bono legal work for Trump's pet causes — amount to legalized extortion by the federal government.

🔎 Zoom in: Harvard has expressed a willingness to spend up to $500 million to settle its dispute with the White House, which has accused the university of civil rights violations tied to antisemitism and DEI policies, The New York Times reports.

• Harvard sued in April after the administration began freezing billions of dollars in federal research funding, insisting it would "not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights."
• The potential settlement would be more than double the $221 million fine agreed to by Columbia last week. But Harvard is reportedly reluctant to pay the government directly or allow an outside monitor to oversee the deal.

🖼️ The big picture: Trump's coercion of elite institutions, as both president and plaintiff, extends far beyond college campuses.

• Big Law: At least nine major firms — targeted for their DEI programs or ties to Trump's political enemies — have agreed to settlements, offering between $40 million and $125 million in free legal services to preserve their access to the federal government.
• Paramount: The CBS parent company paid $16 million this month to settle Trump's lawsuit over the editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign.
• Disney: ABC's parent company agreed in December to pay $16 million — primarily directed to Trump's future presidential foundation and museum — to settle a defamation lawsuit the president filed against anchor George Stephanopoulos.
• Meta: The tech giant paid Trump $25 million in January to settle a 2021 lawsuit that accused the company of violating his First Amendment rights by banning him from Facebook and Instagram after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Between the lines: The few law firms that chose to fight Trump's executive orders have largely prevailed in court so far, suggesting capitulation isn't the only viable path forward.

• Just last week, a federal judge cast serious doubt on Trump's targeting of Harvard — questioning the constitutionality of cutting off research funding over alleged antisemitism and warning of "staggering" due process concerns.

👀 What to watch: Trump officials see Columbia's settlement as a playbook for negotiations with other universities, combining financial penalties with internal policy changes and external oversight.

• Emboldened by its early success, the Trump administration this week launched new investigations and lawsuits targeting UCLA, Duke, and George Mason.

Share this story.

President Trump is winning the global trade battle with a series of deals that are resulting, so far, in big concessions by major partners, new revenue for the federal government, and minimal upset to the U.S. economy or markets, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes.

• Why it matters: The question now is whether these victories — high-level, roughly sketched agreements among several major economies — will translate to winning the trade war.

🎨 The big picture: The onset of Trump's higher-tariff regime hasn't shown up in any big way in U.S. inflation data, and earlier fears of a recession look overblown.

• The stock market set records for six straight days before dipping yesterday.
• Tariff revenue is rolling in, $27 billion last month alone — supporting the White House's contention that import taxes are on track to become a meaningful revenue source that lowers the budget deficit.

🥊 Reality check: The deals so far have been far short of the kinds of carefully negotiated agreements that are traditional in trade policy, including in Trump's first term, Evercore ISI analyst Sarah Bianchi notes.

• The Trump 1.0 renegotiation of NAFTA, known as the USMCA, came out to 1,500 pages.
• The most expansive written agreement in this round, with the U.K., comes to five pages. Others involve no written documentation at all.

Share this story.

Elon Musk's new political party is so far a no-go on the launch pad, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes.

• Why it matters: A Musk-backed "America Party" could disrupt the midterms and escalate his feud with President Trump. But "Musk has read the room," said Dan Ives, a Wedbush Securities analyst who's followed him for decades.

The rockets-to-robotaxis billionaire hasn't taken visible steps to make formal filings for the America Party, and once-frenetic whispers from third-party consultants about working for him have gone radio silent.

• Tensions between Trump and his former best buddy also seem to be eased with Trump posting on Truth Social last week: "I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before!"

💰 The intrigue: The America PAC, the vehicle Musk used to spend roughly $250 million in the 2024 campaign, remains active.

• Though it hasn't made any filings this year, the super PAC's spending power remains an electoral weapon.

Share this story.

Tsunami waves lashed Hawaii, Alaska and the Pacific coast of the continental U.S. early this morning, triggered by an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.

• Waves began to hit the U.S. mainland at 1 a.m. PST with intensity expected to build throughout the early morning, The New York Times reports. Officials warned of waves up to 10 feet.

The big picture: Tsunami warnings were in effect in Hawaii and the northern-most stretch of California, as well as lower-threat tsunami advisories for the rest of the Pacific coast.

• Hawaii's warning was downgraded to an advisory, allowing those who evacuated the coast to return home.
• Flights in and out of Kahului Airport on Maui were canceled, while some flights at the state's biggest airport in Honolulu were canceled or diverted.

🔭 Zoom out: The earthquake was one of the biggest ever recorded and the largest since Japan's magnitude-9.1 Tohoku in 2011.

• Russia's Kuril Islands and Japan's northern island of Hokkaido were the first to feel the impact of the tsunami.

Live updates.

After the CEO of United Healthcare was killed in December, companies scrambled to beef up security for executives, Axios' Emily Peck writes.

• The fears were revived by Monday's fatal shooting at a Midtown Manhattan office building — New York City's deadliest mass shooting in 25 years, since five people were fatally shot at a Wendy's in Queens in 2000.

🔬 Zoom in: Security is already tight at midtown skyscrapers like 345 Park Ave., where the shooting took place. Visitors must show ID to gain access to tightly controlled turnstiles and elevator banks.

• But Monday's assailant was determined, and shot his way in with an assault rifle. It's difficult to prepare for an ambush like that, says Kelly Johnstone, an adviser at the security firm International SOS.

All four of the victims were on the job, Axios' April Rubin writes:

• Wesley LePatner, 43, was one of Blackstone's highest-ranking women. She also served on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Didarul Islam, 36, was an NYPD officer and a Bangladeshi immigrant. His wife is pregnant with their third child.
• Julia Hyman, 27, was a Cornell grad who worked for Rudin Management, the owner of the Park Ave. building where the shooting occurred.
• Aland Etienne, 46, was a security guard working a shift in the building and a father of two children.

Share this story .... More on the victims.

A record-low number of American adults support Israel's military action in Gaza, Axios' April Rubin writes from a new Gallup poll.

• 32% of U.S. adults said they approve of Israel's military action in Gaza, down from 42% in September.
• 52% of Americans view Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfavorably. Just 29% view him favorably.

Keep reading.

China-specific national-security concerns were a big reason the Justice Department decided last month to allow Hewlett Packard Enterprise to take over rival Juniper Networks, Trump administration officials tell Mike.

• Why it matters: Axios has learned that the U.S. intelligence community intervened to persuade the Justice Department that allowing the merger to proceed was essential to helping U.S. business compete with China's Huawei Technologies, among other national-security issues.

A senior national security official tells Axios: "In light of significant national security concerns, a settlement ... serves the interests of the United States by strengthening domestic capabilities and is critical to countering Huawei and China."

• The official said blocking the deal would have "hindered American companies and empowered" Chinese competitors.
• A Justice Department spokesman added that DOJ "works very closely with our partners in the IC [intelligence community] and always considers their views when deciding how best to proceed with a case."

Behind the scenes: Attorney General Pam Bondi had conversations with top intelligence officials that convinced her there was a strong national interest in not driving allies to Chinese technology, a senior administration official tells us.

• The administration official said the conversations about the deal reflect President Trump's close-knit Cabinet: Many top officials have longstanding personal connections.
• Bondi sees fellow Cabinet members "almost daily at happy hours, dinners, Bible studies," the official added. "It all feels very natural."

The intrigue: The merger was back in the news this week with reports that two senior enforcers in the DOJ's antitrust division were fired Monday amid infighting over the department's settlement greenlighting HPE's $14 billion acquisition of Juniper.

Many U.S. cities now have more heat streaks on average each year compared to 1970, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick writes from a new Climate Central analysis.

• Keep reading.