In May, cabinet officials and West Wing aides brought President Trump a potential settlement with Columbia University. But instead of giving his sign-off, he issued a new demand.
The school needed to pay $200 million, Mr. Trump told his team. The university’s cost for a deal soared from zero dollars to nine figures in the course of a single meeting.
The sudden stipulation, described by six people familiar with the episode and which has not been previously reported, jarred university leaders. They had seen the fierce backlash that followed when major law firms struck deals with the White House and promised to pour resources into seemingly benign causes favored by Mr. Trump. And although negotiations were still unfolding, they had already spent weeks working through policy changes intended to meet the administration’s original dictates around addressing antisemitism on campus.
Still, eager to maintain $1.3 billion in annual federal grant funding, Columbia ultimately agreed to the price.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.
Since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second term, his administration targeted elite schools with a few defined goals: root out antisemitism, restore a more traditional definition of gender in campus activities and athletic programs, and expunge perceived liberal bias from colleges.
To achieve those ends, the government unleashed the full scope and breadth of its power. Federal agencies under Mr. Trump’s control have spent months squeezing elite public and private colleges with civil rights investigations, freezing billions in federal research money and threatening to prevent international students from enrolling.
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The post Trump Wants Universities to Show Him the Money, or No Deal appeared first on New York Times.
