The Trump administration has taken aim at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), seeking over $1 billion to restore its research funding. Officials accuse the university of failing to address antisemitism during the 2024 student protests over the Gaza crisis.

This proposed figure is five times higher than what Columbia University recently paid to settle similar federal claims. A draft settlement, obtained by The New York Times, says UCLA must pay $1 billion to the US government and contribute $172 million to a claims fund for “victims of civil rights violations.”

If approved, this would be the largest settlement reached with a university under President Donald Trump. By comparison, Columbia University agreed to pay $221 million, while Brown University pledged $50 million to state workforce programs.

University Responds to Demand

James B. Milliken, president of the University of California system, confirmed receiving a document from the Justice Department. “As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources, and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians,” he said.

Sharp Shift in Focus Toward UCLA

Since taking office, the Trump administration has primarily targeted elite private universities, framing the effort as a fight against antisemitism and a push to reshape what it sees as liberal institutions.

However, its focus on UCLA has been unusually aggressive. On July 29, just one day after UCLA settled a lawsuit over pro-Palestinian protesters allegedly blocking Jewish students on campus, the Justice Department announced it believed UCLA had committed civil rights violations.

That same week, UCLA Chancellor Dr. Julio Frenk said the federal government had begun freezing research funds. The administration’s pressure on UCLA also reflects a broader pattern of political clashes with California, where Governor Gavin Newsom is one of Trump’s most outspoken opponents and a possible presidential contender.

Political Resistance From California

A day before the administration’s latest demand, Newsom vowed to fight the move. “I will fight like hell to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Newsom, who sits on the university’s board of regents. “There are principles. There’s right and wrong, and we’ll do the right thing, and what President Trump is doing is wrong, and everybody knows it.”

He added that he would “do everything in my power to encourage them to do the right thing and not to become another law firm that bends on their knees, another company that sells their soul, or another institution that takes a shortcut and takes the easy wrong versus the hard right.”

UCLA Signals Openness to Talks

Despite criticism of the administration’s approach, Milliken said on Wednesday that UCLA is open to discussions with federal officials. “These cuts do nothing to address antisemitism,” he said. “Moreover, the extensive work that UCLA and the entire University of California have taken to combat antisemitism has been ignored.”