The University of California system is trying to negotiate a $1 billion settlement with the Trump administration, but Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) could throw a wrench in the works as he ramps up his attacks on the Republican president and his agenda.
After the federal government demanded the $1 billion fine from the University of California, Los Angeles, to atone for campus antisemitism, Newsom threatened to sue President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice over its demands that the governor categorized as “extortion” and “ransom.”
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The DOJ said it would decide whether or not to sue the university system by Sept. 2. While a lawsuit has not been filed by either side yet, Newsom recently made public comments criticizing Trump’s crackdown on UCLA and other universities.
“UCLA is not going to sell their soul like Harvard or Brown or Penn or Columbia,” Newsom said during an Aug. 15 appearance of Pod Save America. “Shame on all of them. We’re not. And we’re going to fight like hell.”
The Trump administration reached a $221 million settlement with Columbia University last month to resolve a number of civil rights investigations, some of which were related to antisemitism claims. The administration is currently negotiating with Harvard University on a potential settlement while holding such talks with UCLA.
The DOJ is pressuring UC leaders to negotiate a settlement regarding antisemitism allegations by Sept. 2. If there is no “reasonable certainty” that an agreement can be reached in time, the department said it is prepared to sue.
Although the $1 billion fine appears to be a sticking point for UC officials, according to the Los Angeles Times, they are reportedly willing to agree on other demands, such as protest restrictions. The Trump administration is also seeking to end race-related scholarships and other discriminatory programs and eliminate transgender policies in bathrooms and women’s sports, among other requests.
The UC system previously reached a $6 million settlement with Jewish students and a professor who accused UCLA of failing to handle anti-Israel protests and encampments last year. It’s possible UC could agree to a settlement with the federal government if the final deal doesn’t include a requirement for an outside monitor to oversee the university’s actions.
It remains to be seen how UC’s negotiations will develop before the DOJ’s deadline next week. Meanwhile, Newsom could complicate the process if he files the promised lawsuit by then.
In the meantime, he is increasingly provoking Trump over a number of executive actions and even trying to replicate the president’s social media all-caps style in certain posts. Conservatives have accused Newsom of trying to goad Trump into a social media back-and-forth, though the White House has thus far kept its response to the trolling minimal.
One issue the Democratic governor has taken up to oppose Trump is redistricting. Newsom’s messaging on Texas Republicans’ efforts to add more House seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections prompted the California legislature to pass three bills that set up a Nov. 4 special election in which voters can decide whether California can redraw its congressional map.
Newsom has repeatedly criticized Trump over the GOP redistricting push, which he says justified his own actions to pursue the same political agenda to benefit Democrats.
Regarding UCLA, the Trump administration has cut roughly $600 million in its research grants. Newsom argues the federal government was wrong for setting back critical science and health research in the name of combating antisemitism.
“It is a cruel manipulation to use Jewish students’ real concerns about Antisemitism on campus as an excuse to cut millions of dollars in grants that were being used to make all Americans safer and healthier,” Newsom said in a statement dated Aug. 1.
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The administration’s actions to cut UCLA funding have faced legal challenges.
UCLA is just one California school facing a crackdown from the Trump administration. Last week, Trump said he would pull funding from any public school district that does not get rid of its transgender policies. The threat came as the Department of Health and Human Services revoked California’s sex education grant after Newsom refused to remove “radical gender ideology” from school curricula.