Similarly, the Trump administration denied big US law firms access to government buildings and clients unless they offered hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of legal services for causes that Trump cares about. Running a research university is no longer a question of competing for government funding on the merits, and operating law firms is no longer a matter of offering independent professional services. Instead, these activities are subject to presidential approval and one’s ability to pay the price he demands.
US President Donald Trump recently announced that professional work visas (H-1Bs) for the US will now cost sponsoring institutions US$100,000 ($129,362). This is not a fee; it is the price that any company or university that wants to hire a foreigner must pay. Visas have become transactions, and so, too, has naturalisation: the White House is selling “Trump gold cards” that grant a quick path to permanent residency, and eventual citizenship, for US$1 million.
Much else is now for sale. The ability to sell goods in the US is itself now for sale, subject to a price that varies by country and depends on Trump’s judgment about how deserving or unworthy that country is. Everywhere you look, government actions are becoming transactions with a price tag. Columbia University, where I work, had to pay US$200 million just to reinstate already approved government research funding.
