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... And Trump has rewarded its partners handsomely. Jay Clayton, who had a more than 20-year career at Sullivan & Cromwell, is Trump's nominee to be director of national intelligence. While Clayton awaits a confirmation hearing, he remains the Manhattan U.S. attorney, one of the most powerful prosecutorial roles in the country.

Trump nominated Matthew Schwartz, one of his lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell, to be a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Schwartz's confirmation is pending.

And Trump has tapped James McDonald, another Sullivan & Cromwell partner on Trump's legal team, to replace Clayton as Manhattan U.S. attorney. McDonald is slated to join the office first as deputy U.S. attorney, where he is expected to assume day-to-day leadership while Clayton turns to confirmation matters.

The relationship stems from Trump's friendship with the firm's co-chair Robert Giuffra Jr. People familiar with the matter say he has encouraged the firm's alliance with Trump. Giuffra, who is also a member of the president's legal team, was among those considered by Trump for the job of attorney general after he was elected to a second term.

The firm's relationship is starkly different from the president's past experience with the white-shoe legal community.

When Trump first hired Todd Blanche to represent him in the Manhattan hush money case in 2023, Blanche was forced to resign from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the elite law firm where he had been a partner, telling colleagues he "obviously" couldn't take Trump as a client while remaining at the firm. ...