Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration had reached a deal with Harvard and that the school would pay $500m to settle the dispute between the federal government and the university.
“Linda is finishing up the final details,” Trump told reporters at an event in the Oval Office, referring to Linda McMahon, the education secretary. “And they’ll be paying about $500m and they’ll be operating trade schools. They’re going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other things, engines, lots of things.”
It was unclear whether Harvard was ready to announce a deal or exactly what terms beyond money the US president was talking about. He noted that any deal was not yet confirmed on paper, and Harvard had no immediate comment on his remarks.
The news came after months of accusations by Trump that the university, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had violated federal civil rights law in its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, which resulted in Trump cutting federal funding and attempting to ban the school from enrolling international students.
Trump had previously said that his administration “wants nothing less than $500m from Harvard” as a condition for restoring billions of dollars in federal funding after the showdown between the two sides ended up in court.
Earlier this month a federal judge ruled that the administration unlawfully terminated about $2.2bn in grants awarded to Harvard and could no longer cut off research funding.
The decision, by the US district judge Allison Burroughs in Boston, marked a major legal victory for Harvard as it had stood its ground more defiantly than some others in the White House’s multi-front conflict with the country’s oldest and richest university.
The Trump administration has threatened schools, universities and colleges with the withholding of federal funds over issues including pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, but also over climate initiatives, transgender policies, and diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Trump, however, pushed Harvard to agree to a settlement significantly larger than the $200m Columbia agreed to pay in July to resolve federal investigations. Brown University, in Providence, also made a settlement deal, paying out $50m to restore federal research funding that was withdrawn and close investigations into alleged discrimination.
Rights advocates have raised free speech, privacy and academic freedom concerns over the Trump administration’s probes into universities. Trump has said that universities such as Harvard allowed displays of antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism. The government has not announced probes into Islamophobia.
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Harvard taskforces said in late April that the school’s Jewish and Muslim students faced bigotry and abuse during the course of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, has previously said that the various federal actions since Trump returned to office in January could strip the school of nearly $1bn annually, forcing it to lay off staff and freeze hiring.
Historically, civil rights investigations conducted by the education department concluded with voluntary compliance agreements and rarely involved financial punishment, so Trump’s funding cuts are a departure from previous practices. Even in cases where penalties were imposed, the amounts were much smaller.
Reuters contributed reporting
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