The Favoritism Grift

In a new New Yorker Comment, I take up the question on many people’s minds: Why aren’t our major civil institutions—universities, law firms, and so on—standing up better to autocratic pressure? I offer a theory.

One thing that we have learned, in recent weeks, is that the current Trump government is unable to function in landscapes of equal footing. The Administration’s way of doing business, its path to power and profit, emerges from the creation of loopholes and exceptions, with which it invites its opponents and even its allies to compete for special favor. I call this mode the Favoritism Grift. I explain why it’s a bitter game—but also why many of our great institutions are predisposed to play it.

Drawing on my recent long report from campus, I focus on universities, many of which have appeared to capitulate to the Administration’s increasing pressures since that piece was published. The alternative, I suggest, is cooperative strategy, which is where real power now resides.

“Donald Trump and the Favoritism Grift,” The New Yorker, April, 2025: https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/trump-and-the-favoritism-grift

Out of favor,
Nathan