Written by Were Kelly
President Donald Trump has demanded a staggering $1 billion (KSh.129 billion) from the University of California (UC) system, escalating his administration’s push against what it calls systemic antisemitism in higher education. The fine stems from alleged mishandling of 2024 pro-Palestinian protests at UCLA.
The amount is five times larger than the settlement Columbia University reached in a similar federal case earlier this year, sparking fears among UC officials that such a payment could financially cripple the 10-campus public university system.
UC President James Milliken confirmed that the demand was received Friday.
“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,” Milliken said. “It would inflict great harm on our students and all Californians.”
The Trump administration is also pressing the UC system to contribute $172 million to a claims fund for Jewish students and others allegedly affected by discrimination.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a UC board member, responded sharply during a press conference, accusing the president of political intimidation.
“We’ll sue,” Newsom vowed. “He has threatened us through extortion with a billion-dollar fine unless we do his bidding… The UC system is one of the reasons California is the tentpole of the US economy and home to more scientists, engineers, and Nobel laureates than any other state.”
The $1 billion fine comes amid an existing half-billion-dollar freeze on medical and science grants at UCLA alone, part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration on universities seen as resistant to its policies.
Analysts note that the administration appears to be following a similar strategy to the one used against Columbia University — where a settlement included a pledge to ban race-based considerations in admissions and hiring. Harvard University is also reportedly facing similar demands.
Newsom accused the administration of weaponizing federal authority to undermine academic freedom, a charge Trump officials deny.
The dispute traces back to 2024, when pro-Palestinian protests swept dozens of U.S. campuses, triggering police crackdowns and occasional mob violence. UCLA was among the most high-profile flashpoints, with large student encampments and clashes between demonstrators and counter-protesters.
At the time, then-President Joe Biden called for “order to prevail,” while Trump’s allies painted the unrest as evidence of an entrenched anti-Israel bias in elite academic institutions.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has targeted universities as bastions of what he calls “radical left” ideology. His Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement views much of academia as elitist, politically liberal, and hostile to nationalist policies.
Critics see the $1 billion demand as part of a broader campaign to reshape higher education through punitive financial measures.
The UC system, which educates more than 280,000 students and is consistently ranked among the world’s leading public university networks, has not yet indicated whether it will negotiate with the administration or fight the fine in court.
