Financial Times: “Close ties between business and previous administrations have long fuelled a sense that America’s free market tilts towards well-connected elites. But this administration has normalised case-by-case dealmaking as a basis for policy and regulation. Under Trump’s transactional leadership, the returns to presidential access have rarely been higher.”

“This insider economy takes several forms. Those on good terms with the president over time tend to be first in line for deals… Others have found they need to scurry to placate the president to secure favourable treatment, or avoid his ire.”