WASHINGTON, D.C. — If you thought the White House’s fight with elite universities was cooling down, think again.
President Donald Trump has just turned up the heat on the University of California (UC) system — and not by a few degrees.
On Friday, his administration slapped the prestigious 10-campus system with a jaw-dropping $1 billion fine over its handling of 2024 student protests tied to the war in Gaza.
That’s not a typo. One. Billion. Dollars.
For context, that’s five times what Columbia University agreed to pay in a similar federal settlement over antisemitism claims earlier this year.
And according to UC President James Milliken, such a bill would “completely devastate” one of America’s most celebrated public university systems.
The Billion-Dollar Demand
UC leaders say they received the formal demand letter Friday. The fine targets alleged antisemitism in UCLA’s response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year, which saw encampments, police crackdowns, and chaos echoing across U.S. campuses.
Milliken called the payment “catastrophic” not just for UC, but for Californians everywhere.
“We are stewards of taxpayer resources,” he said. “A payment of this scale would harm our students, derail our research, and hurt the very work that drives U.S. innovation, health care, and national security.”
The Trump administration is also asking for $172 million to be added to a claims fund to compensate Jewish students and others who say they were affected by discrimination.
California’s Governor Is Ready for a Court Battle
California Governor Gavin Newsom — who sits on UC’s board — wasted no time firing back. Speaking at a press conference, he accused Trump of “extortion” and promised to take the matter to court.
“He has threatened us through extortion with a billion dollar fine unless we do his bidding,” Newsom said. “The UC system is one of the reasons California leads the nation in science, engineering, Nobel prizes — and economic power. We’re not going to roll over.”
Newsom also drew a line between UC and other universities that have made concessions under similar federal pressure.
“We will not be complicit in this kind of attack on academic freedom,” he said. “We are not like some of those other institutions.”
Déjà Vu from the Trump Playbook
The move looks a lot like what happened at Columbia University — a settlement that included not just money, but a pledge to abandon race-conscious hiring and admissions. Harvard is reportedly facing a similar push.
Meanwhile, UC is already feeling the sting of Trump’s policies. The administration has frozen more than half a billion dollars in medical and science grants at UCLA alone.
This is part of a broader MAGA-era hostility toward higher education. Trump’s movement often casts academia as elitist, overly liberal, and dismissive of the ethno-nationalist currents popular among his base.
The bottom line: this isn’t just a legal fight — it’s a cultural one. And with a billion dollars on the line, expect the UC system to lawyer up fast.
