It’s about time we watch the old elites crumble under pressure from a president who knows how to wield real power. For too long, pampered universities and arrogant corporate behemoths coasted on government cash and political favoritism. Now, they’re learning a lesson in accountability, courtesy of the White House. The president has zero patience for institutions mooching off taxpayers while daring to challenge him at every turn. So, he’s forced them to pay—and pay big.

Look at what happened with certain universities. One of them, Columbia, was caught in a showdown with the administration. They thought they could brush off investigations and walk away untouched. Instead, the president personally intervened, demanding a jaw-dropping $200 million payment. Columbia coughed it up, albeit begrudgingly. Another Ivy–Brown University—wanted to keep its funding apparently scot-free. Wrong. They had to shell out $50 million toward state workforce development programs, or else risk losing federal money entirely. But the biggest bite so far may come from Harvard, which the administration wants to fork over $500 million to settle a medley of federal probes. When that kind of money is on the line, even the most pompous institutions sit up straight.

And let’s not forget how the president applied the screws to private companies. Two major American chipmakers, Nvidia and AMD, were basically cornered into letting the government siphon off 15 percent from their Chinese A.I. sales. Some people whine that such demands are reminiscent of old-school strong–arming. But maybe that’s exactly what these corporations deserve if they want to play both sides. The administration also has its eyes set on an equity stake in Intel—why not? If the government stands to protect an ailing chip giant, it ought to benefit from the arrangement.

Prominent law firms have learned a similar lesson. After the president singled them out with threats of punitive orders, these legal titans offered up nearly a billion dollars in “pro bono” services. Critics call it extortion. I call it a perfect example of “you break it, you buy it.” If they want to fix their tarnished relationship with the administration, they better offer more than sweet words.

Critics squeal about “shakedowns.” Spare me. This is how you keep powerful forces from stepping all over the federal government. Everything from renegotiated trade deals to the law firms’ sudden willingness to finance Trump-friendly projects shows the side effect of real leadership: Reciprocity. As the president wrote years ago, leverage is everything.

No one’s untouchable. All those groups that tried to undermine the administration are paying up. Certain old-guard journalists, fussy academics, and do-gooder law firms might wail about the ethics of it all. But when the government invests in American institutions, the White House wants a fair shake—and it’ll do what’s necessary to get that. We’re seeing a revolution in how business gets done in Washington, orchestrated by someone who knows every nook and cranny of negotiation.

For decades, many in academia or big industry were free to defy or undermine the administration of the day, comfortable that the worst they’d get was a slap on the wrist. Now, with a president who made fortunes on tough deals, the old routine of ignoring Washington’s demands just isn’t going to fly. We are witnessing a cultural shift in who wields true influence over American public life. Those used to zeroenforcement are rattled, but that’s precisely why this is necessary.

Like it or not, money talks. People can whine about extortion. People can take moral stands. But watch how these “powerful” forces fall in line when real consequences loom. Maybe that’s proof positive of who’s genuinely calling the shots.

Topics: [“Trump”, “university settlements”, “corporate deals”, “leverage”, “law firms”]