Columbia University Strikes $200 Million Deal With Trump Administration Over Pro-Palestine Protests

<p>Columbia University will pay over $200 million in settlement with President Donald Trump’s administration to resolve federal probes and to have most of its suspended federal funding restored, said the university on Wednesday.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Several universities across the US, including Columbia, were targeted by Trump over the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled college campuses last year.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In March, nearly two months after returning to the White House, the Trump administration said it was penalising the university over its handling of last year’s protest by cancelling $400 million in federal funding. It argued that the varsity’s response to alleged antisemitism and harassment of Jewish and Israeli members of the university community was insufficient.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In a statement issued on Wednesday, Columbia said: “Under today’s agreement, a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 – will be reinstated and Columbia’s access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored,” reported Reuters.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The university has also agreed to settle an investigation brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $21 million, it said.&nbsp;<br />Columbia’s deal with the Trump administration preserved its “autonomy and authority over faculty hiring, admissions, and academic decision-making,” it added.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The school announced a series of commitments in response to the Trump administration’s concerns after the government announced the cancellation of federal funds.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Last week, it adopted a definition of antisemitism equating it with opposition to Zionism. The school also said it would no longer engage with the pro-Palestinian group Columbia University Apartheid Divest.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Trump administration issued no immediate comment, but the US President in recent weeks had said that a deal was close with Colombia.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The US administration has labelled pro-Palestinian protestors as antisemitic and as sympathisers of extremism. The protestors, which include some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration has wrongly conflated their criticism of Israel’s military assault in Gaza with antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.&nbsp;</p>