AT&T is being sued by the Trump administration but is now on the president’s good side

3:04 p.m. December 20, 2017: “This just came out,” said President Donald Trump. “Two minutes ago, they handed it to me. AT&T plans to increase U.S. capital spending [by] $1 billion and provide [a] $1,000 special bonus to more than 200,000 U.S. employees, and that’s because of what we did. So that’s pretty good. That’s pretty good.” The Republican lawmakers surrounding the president applauded. The moment represented a big win for AT&T, which Trump's Justice Department is suing to block an $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. The last time President Trump spoke publicly about AT&T, on Nov. 21, he said he has “always felt that that was a deal that's not good for the country.” By announcing the bonuses right after passage of the tax bill, AT&T quickly grabbed headlines and gave President Trump a favorable talking point. AT&T later told CNBC's David Faber that the bonus announcement was not an attempt to curry favor with the president. [Mr Faber replied, "Pull this one; it plays jingle bells."] Whether getting on Trump's good side was the goal or merely a nice side effect, that is what AT&T accomplished.