Harvard University and the Trump administration are reportedly close to finalizing a settlement that would halt civil rights investigations into the institution. President Trump announced the deal in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
“Now this is something we’re close to finalizing. We haven’t done it yet, but they put up $500 million interest and everything else would go to that account,” Trump said, while signaling that Education Secretary Linda McMahon was on board.
Along with the money, the deal involves Harvard paying for establishing trade schools focused on artificial intelligence and engine building, among other things, according to the president.
“It’s a big investment in trade school done by very smart people and then uh their sins are forgiven so we have a good chance of getting that close,” he said.
Harvard had yet to respond to a comment asking about the deal as of Wednesday afternoon.
The potential settlement could resolve a long-standing feud that began shortly after Trump took office in January. The administration had accused Harvard of failing to adequately protect Jewish students and combat antisemitism, particularly during pro-Gaza and Palestine protests on campuses last year. This led to a $2 billion freeze on government research funding to the university.
“Sure, it hurts Harvard, but it hurts the country because, after all, the research funding is not a gift. The research funding is given to universities and other research institutions to carry out work that the research work that the federal government designates as high-priority work,” Harvard President Alan Garber told NPR in May.
The school sued, and the freeze was later overturned by a federal district judge. The judge criticized the administration’s actions as “a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault” on the Ivy League institution.
If finalized, Harvard would join other institutions like Brown University and Columbia University, which have settled similar disputes with the administration for $50 million and over $220 million, respectively. Meanwhile, the Justice Department has announced a new investigation into antisemitism allegations at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, adding to the growing list of colleges under scrutiny. The Trump administration was in the process of banning future funding from going to Harvard, announcing this week that the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Health and Human Services were recommending the school be debarred from receiving federal funds for wrongdoing. They had been in the process of notifying the school that they were entitled to a hearing on the recommendation when Trump said a deal was close.