Trump admin seeks $1 bn settlement from UCLA, says White House official

The Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, a White House official said Friday.

The person was not authorised to speak publicly about the request and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration has suspended $584 million in federal grants, the university said this week.

In recent weeks, the Department of Justice has accused UCLA of antisemitism.

UCLA is the first public university whose federal grants have been targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. The Trump administration has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against private colleges.

The new UC president, James B Milliken, said in a statement Friday that it had received notice from the Department of Justice and is reviewing it.

Earlier this week, we offered to engage in good faith dialogue with the Department to protect the University and its critical research mission, Milliken said. 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.

UCLA recently reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued the university, arguing it violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024 to block their access to classes and other areas on campus.

The university has said it is committed to campus safety and inclusivity and will continue to implement recommendations.