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MEXICO CITY — From thehundreds of millions of tortillasconsumed every year to thecountless tons of corn-enrichedfeed that fattens livestock andpoultry, corn is perhaps Mexico’smost important agricultural com-modity, one at the center of its lifeand culture.

Now corn has taken on a newrole — as a powerful lever forMexican officials in the run-up totalks over Nafta, the North Ameri-can Free Trade Agreement.

The reason: Much of the cornthat Mexico consumes comesfrom the United States, making itAmerica’s top agricultural exportto its neighbor. And even thoughPresident Trump appears to bepulling back from his vows to com-pletely overhaul Nafta, Mexicohas taken his threats to heart andhas begun flexing its own muscle.

The Mexican government is ex-ploring buying its corn elsewhere— including Argentina or Brazil —as well as increasing domesticproduction. In a fit of politicalpique, a Mexican senator evensubmitted a bill to eliminate cornpurchases from the United Stateswithin three years.

American corn shipments toMexico totaled nearly $2.6 billionlast year and are part of an elabo-rate agricultural trade relation-ship that has helped to interlace

the two nations’ economies. Butthough the corn business is a tinyfraction of the overall $525 billionin annual trade between the twocountries, it has gained outsizeimportance and become some-thing of a symbol for the nations’economic codependence.

Corn Becomes Bargaining ChipFor Mexico as Nafta Talks Near

By KIRK SEMPLE

Continued on Page A6

NORTH BAY, Ontario — Thetiny log house alongside theTrans-Canada Highway is easyto miss among the strip malls,fast-food outlets and car dealers.But 83 years ago, it was the eyeof a publicity maelstrom becauseof a one-in-a-billion event: thebirth of five identical baby girls.

The Dionne quintuplets — thefirst known to survive — were aflash of miraculous happy newsin the depths of the Great De-pression. Journalists descendedon North Bay, Ontario, to makethem the most famous babies onearth. They were front-page

news around the world and fillednewsreels.

The province of Ontarioswooped in and took them fromtheir parents, declaring that theyhad to be protected from ex-ploitation. Then it exhibited thechildren three times a day in ahuman zoo called Quintland, tobe raised as a sort of scienceexperiment. Three million vis-itors came in the 1930s.

Now, the city they put on themap is poised to deal theDionnes what they say is yetanother insult, by getting rid oftheir house. The city plans to

hand it over to a fairground in avillage 45 miles down the high-way with no connection to theirstory, nor any apparent financialresources to maintain it as amuseum. A City Council commit-

tee is expected to review thematter on Tuesday night.

The two surviving sisters,Annette and Cécile, have reluc-tantly returned to the public eye

Last Two Dionne Quintuplets Step Up to Try to Save Home

By IAN AUSTEN

NORTH BAY JOURNAL

The Dionne quintuplets, the first known to survive, in 1943. Theprovince of Ontario once exhibited them three times a day.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued on Page A7

In 2010, the Metropolitan Mu-seum of Art hired Erin Coburnaway from the J. Paul Getty Mu-seum, lauding her as its “firstchief officer of digital media” — arole created and promoted by theMet director and chief executive,Thomas P. Campbell, as part of hisefforts to move the museum intothe 21st century.

Two years later, Ms. Coburnquietly left, along with a confiden-tial settlement from the Met.Though no clear explanation wasgiven at the time, recent inter-views with former and currentstaff members reveal that Ms.Coburn had long complained thatshe was unable to do her job effec-tively because of a close personalrelationship between Mr. Camp-bell and a female staff member inher department.

Mr. Campbell announced hisresignation in February. Andwhile the relationship was not thereason he left, staff members saythat it contributed to a yearslongerosion of respect for his authorityand judgment within the Met andthat it reflects larger problems inhow the institution is managed bytop executives and the board oftrustees.

Despite its vaunted collection,prodigious $332 million budget

and a board stocked with some ofthe country’s most powerfuldonors, the Met is largely run by adozen or so executives andtrustees, interviews show, with lit-tle transparency or accountability.

The recent discovery of a loom-ing $40 million deficit that forcedthe institution to cut staff, trim itsexhibition schedule and postponea heralded $600 million expansion

At the Met Museum, a Hushed Exit Reflects an Insular CultureBy ROBIN POGREBIN

Continued on Page A13

The secretive ride-hailing giant Uber rarely dis-cusses internal matters in public. But in March, fac-ing crises on multiple fronts, top officials convened acall for reporters to insist that Uber was changing itsculture and would no longer tolerate “brilliantjerks.”

Notably, the company also announced that itwould fix its troubled relationship with drivers, whohave complained for years about falling pay and ar-bitrary treatment.

“We’ve underinvested in the driver experience,” asenior official said. “We are now re-examining ev-erything we do in order to rebuild that love.”

And yet even as Uber talks up its determination totreat drivers more humanely, it is engaged in an ex-traordinary behind-the-scenes experiment in be-havioral science to manipulate them in the service ofits corporate growth — an effort whose dimensionsbecame evident in interviews with several dozencurrent and former Uber officials, drivers and socialscientists, as well as a review of behavioral research.

Uber’s innovations reflect the changing wayscompanies are managing workers amid the rise ofthe freelance-based “gig economy.” Its drivers areofficially independent business owners rather thantraditional employees with set schedules. This al-

lows Uber to minimize labor costs, but means it can-not compel drivers to show up at a specific place andtime. And this lack of control can wreak havoc on aservice whose goal is to seamlessly transport pas-sengers whenever and wherever they want.

Uber helps solve this fundamental problem by us-ing psychological inducements and other tech-

‘It was all day long, every day — texts, emails, pop-ups.’ ED FRANTZEN, below, a veteran Uber driver in the Chicago area

BRITTANY SOWACKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

How Uber Pushes Drivers’ ButtonsBorrowing Video Game Tactics to Urge More Time on the Road

By NOAM SCHEIBER

Uber sends messagesto entice drivers to

stay on the road or tonudge them in a

certain direction, andit awards them

achievement badges.Continued on Page A14

WASHINGTON — When Presi-dent Trump welcomes PresidentXi Jinping of China to his palm-fringed Florida club for two daysof meetings on Thursday, the stud-ied informality of the gatheringwill bear the handiwork of twopeople: China’s ambassador toWashington and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The Chinese ambassador, CuiTiankai, has established a busyback channel to Mr. Kushner, ac-cording to several officials briefedon the relationship. The two menagreed on the club, Mar-a-Lago,as the site for the meeting, and theambassador even sent Mr. Kush-ner drafts of a joint statement thatChina and the United States couldissue afterward.

Mr. Kushner’s central role re-flects the peculiar nature not onlyof this first meeting between Mr.Trump and Mr. Xi, but also of thebroader relationship between theUnited States and China in theearly days of the Trump adminis-tration. It is at once highly person-al and bluntly transactional — astrategy that carries significantrisks, experts said, given the eco-nomic and security issues that al-ready divide the countries.

While Chinese officials havefound Mr. Trump a bewilderingfigure with a penchant for inflam-matory statements, they havecome to at least one clear judg-ment: In Mr. Trump’s Washing-ton, his son-in-law is the man toknow.

CHINA RECOGNIZESKUSHNER AS PATH TO THE PRESIDENT

STRATEGY SEEN AS RISKY

An Unusually PersonalBackdrop Before Xi

Meets Trump

By MARK LANDLER

Continued on Page A10

Donald F. McGahn II, now Pres-ident Trump’s White House coun-sel, made $2.4 million as a lawyerwith a client list loaded with deep-pocketed conservative groups,from Americans for Prosperity,backed by the conservative bil-lionaires Charles G. and David H.Koch, to the Citizens United Foun-dation.

Mr. Trump’s legislative affairsdirector, Marc Short, earned$78,000 from Freedom Partners, aKoch-linked group where he onceserved as president, plus nearly$380,000 for consulting work, list-ing clients such as the Club forGrowth and Susan B. AnthonyList, both right-leaning activistgroups, as well as the presidentialcampaign of Senator Marco Ru-bio, Republican of Florida.

And Mr. Trump’s chief strat-egist, Stephen K. Bannon, re-ported earning more than $1 mil-lion in income tied to conserva-tive-oriented work, with at least$500,000 of that from entitieslinked to the conservative mega-donor Robert Mercer and hisdaughter Rebekah, including theBreitbart News Network andCambridge Analytica, a data min-ing firm partly owned by Mr. Mer-cer that worked for the Trumpcampaign.

Those disclosures, contained in92 personal financial statementsof Trump administration staffmembers released starting Fri-day night, offer a hint of how anexplosion in spending has ex-panded the lucrative array of pri-vate political work in Washington,enriching even the anti-establish-ment activists and operatives whosided with Mr. Trump.

Much of the new business hascome through “super PACs” andpolitical nonprofit groups whosefund-raising has soared since theSupreme Court’s Citizens Uniteddecision in 2010. While suchgroups were once a modest side-line to campaign and lobbyingwork, the new campaign spending

Trump’s StaffMixed Politics

And Paydays

Filings Show Flood ofConservatives’ Cash

This article is by Steve Eder, EricLipton and Andrew W. Lehren.

Continued on Page A11

Millicent Garrett Fawcett is the firstwoman to get a statue in London’sParliament Square. PAGE A4

Britain Honors a Suffragist

In a city known for poverty and crime,the police put an emphasis on minimiz-ing harm and saving lives. PAGE A17

Camden Tries New Approach

At a conference, lawyers and bankerssaid mergers and acquisitions shouldboom under President Trump. PAGE B1

Deal Makers Dreaming Big

As offensive ads appear on YouTube,Google engineers are trying to teachmachines to consider context in deter-mining what is objectionable. PAGE B1

Can Computers Be Offended?

Paul Krugman PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

The baseball season is starting, andwith it come 14 new books on the sub-ject. Daniel M. Gold reviews. PAGE C3

The Books of Summer

A statewide initiative in California isencouraging convicts to explore thearts as a path to self-esteem. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Creativity Amid Confinement

Workers descended on a Colombian citythat was hit by a surge of mud andwater, killing over 200. PAGE A6

INTERNATIONAL A4-8

Racing to Find SurvivorsThe Bulldogs, in their first national titlegame, face a No. 1 seed, and the oppor-tunity to make a statement. PAGE D1

SPORTSMONDAY D1-8

Gonzaga’s Final Test

With graduation near for a transgenderstudent who won a fight over lockerroom access in an Illinois school, thebattle is renewed. PAGE A9

NATIONAL A9-16

Bathroom Access, Round TwoThe defense team for a gold trader fromTurkey has tried to take his case to theTrump administration. PAGE A18

NEW YORK A17-21

A Legal Strategy With a TwistDyson, like Apple, is a secretive techcompany with a rare feat: It consis-tently profits from consumer gadgets.Its eye for design is helping to win thehigh end of the market. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-4

The Apple of Appliances

An Ohio county that voted forPresident Trump could be hit es-pecially hard from his proposedbudget. Page A12.

Housing Cuts Stir Fears

RON JENKINS/GETTY IMAGES

Coach Dawn Staley led SouthCarolina past Mississippi Statefor the Gamecocks’ first na-tional basketball title. Page D1.

New Champs in Town

An unexpected four-stroke penalty forLexi Thompson turned an L.P.G.A.major into a showdown. PAGE D1

When a Viewer Sees an Error

Late Edition

VOL. CLXVI . . . No. 57,556 © 2017 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

Today, a mix of clouds and sunshine,high 58. Tonight, rain becomingheavy, breezy late, low 47. Tomor-row, showers, windy, high 63.Weather map appears on Page A20.

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