California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday sharply criticized a $1 billion settlement offer from President Donald Trump’s administration to UCLA, calling it “political extortion” and vowing
that the state would not give in.
The dispute centers on the Trump administration’s freeze of $584 million in federal funding to UCLA, part of the University of California system, over the university’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests. Trump has repeatedly threatened to strip federal funds from universities he says tolerated antisemitism during demonstrations opposing Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
In a post on social media, Newsom’s office accused Trump of “weaponizing” the Department of Justice to cripple “America’s #1 public university system,” describing the $1 billion settlement demand as a “ransom” and a “billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president.”
UCLA officials said they are reviewing the proposal but warned such a payment would be financially devastating. Protesters — including some Jewish groups — argue the administration is conflating criticism of Israeli policy with antisemitism, raising concerns about free speech and academic freedom.
The freeze on UCLA’s funds comes amid a wave of government probes into elite universities. Columbia University recently agreed to pay more than $220 million to settle similar allegations, and Brown University settled for $50 million. Talks with Harvard are ongoing.
UCLA, meanwhile, has faced its own legal challenges: it recently paid over $6 million to resolve a lawsuit alleging antisemitism, and is still fighting a case linked to a violent 2024 attack on pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Rights groups have noted rising antisemitism, anti-Arab prejudice, and Islamophobia amid the Middle East conflict — but the Trump administration has yet to launch equivalent investigations into Islamophobia. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia commons.
