California Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed the Trump administration’s proposal to resolve allegations of antisemitism at the University of California, Los Angeles with a $1 billion settlement, denouncing it as an act of "political extortion."

The University of California system, which includes UCLA, acknowledged that it was evaluating the settlement proposal put forward by President Donald Trump’s administration, revealing that the federal government had withheld $584 million in research grants in response to pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus.

In a Friday statement, Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, along with California Legislative Jewish Caucus chairs Scott Wiener and Jesse Gabriel, criticized the settlement offer, arguing that the move was not genuinely aimed at safeguarding Jewish students but rather represented a "billion-dollar political shakedown" orchestrated by what they called a "pay-to-play president."

UCLA is among several prestigious universities where Trump has warned he may withdraw federal funding in response to student-led demonstrations criticizing "Israel" and its war on Gaza.

UCLA's settlement much higher than other universities

Federal officials have reached agreements in similar investigations involving two Ivy League institutions, Columbia University, which agreed to pay more than $200 million, and Brown University, which agreed to pay $50 million. Both schools also accepted specific federal conditions, while settlement discussions with Harvard University remain ongoing.

The proposed settlement for UCLA, as a public university, significantly exceeds those of private institutions, prompting Governor Newsom and other officials to argue in their statement that UCLA has already implemented "aggressive, concrete steps to crack down on the vile scourge of antisemitism on campus." They warned that the massive fine would severely undermine the University of California system's operations.

“Trump has weaponized the Department of Justice to punish California, crush free thinking, and kneecap the greatest public university system in the world,” the statement said, adding that “California will not bow to this kind of disgusting political extortion.”

The Trump administration has accused universities, including UCLA, of failing to prevent antisemitic incidents during campus protests, claiming these institutions violated the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students, while the White House declined to provide additional commentary beyond the settlement offer itself.