Columbia University to pay over US$200 million to resolve Trump probes
Kanishka Singh
and
Jasper Ward
, Reuters
US President Donald Trump.
Photo:
AFP / Saul Loeb
Columbia University has said it will pay over US$200 million (NZ$330m) to the US government in a settlement with President Donald Trump's administration to resolve federal probes and to have most of its suspended federal funding restored.
Trump has targeted universities including Columbia since returning to the White House in January over the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled college campuses last year.
In March, the Trump administration said it was penalising the university over how it handled last year's protests by cancelling $400 million in federal funding. It contended that Columbia's response to alleged antisemitism and harassment of Jewish and Israeli members of the university community was insufficient.
"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," Columbia said in a statement.
The university said it has also agreed to settle investigations brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $21 million and that its deal with the Trump administration preserved Columbia's "autonomy and authority over faculty hiring, admissions, and academic decision-making."
After the government announced the funding cancellations, the school announced a series of commitments in response to the Trump administration's concerns.
Last week, Columbia adopted a definition of antisemitism that equates it with opposition to Zionism. The school also said it would no longer engage with pro-Palestinian group Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
The Trump administration had no immediate comment on Wednesday. Trump had said in recent weeks that a deal with Columbia was close.
The government has labelled pro-Palestinian protesters as antisemitic and as sympathizers of extremism. Protesters, including 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.
Wednesday's announcement came one day after the university disciplined dozens of students over a pro-Palestinian protest in May in which demonstrators seized Columbia's main library.
The government has attempted to use the leverage of federal funding with other educational institutions as well, including Harvard University, over campus protests. It has also tried deporting some foreign pro-Palestinian students but has faced judicial roadblocks.
Rights advocates have raised concerns about due process, academic freedom and free speech over the government's actions.
- Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
43 minutes ago
- Otago Daily Times
Thai-Cambodian fighting now in third day despite ceasefire calls
Fighting on the Thai-Cambodian border extended into a third day and new flashpoints emerged on Saturday as both sides sought diplomatic support, saying they had acted in self-defence and calling on the other to cease fighting and start negotiations. At least 30 people have been killed and more than 130,000 people displaced in the worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours in 13 years. The Thai navy said there were clashes in the coastal province of Trat early on Saturday, a new front more than 100 km (60 miles) from other conflict points along the long-contested border. The two countries have faced off since the killing of a Cambodian soldier late in May during a brief skirmish. Troops on both sides of the border were reinforced amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand's fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse. Thailand's death toll remained at 19 on Saturday, while Cambodian Defence Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata said five soldiers and eight civilians had been killed in the the Kanthralak district of Thailand's Sisaket province, on the border near some of the clashes, hotel worker Chianuwat Thalalai said the town had emptied out. "Nearly everybody's gone, it's almost a deserted city," the 31-year-old told Reuters. "My hotel is still open for some of those nearer to the border area that needs a place to stay." Thailand's ambassador to the United Nations told a Security Council meeting on Friday that soldiers had been injured by newly planted land mines in Thai territory on two occasions since mid-July - claims Cambodia has strongly denied - and said Cambodia had then launched attacks on Thursday morning. "Thailand urges Cambodia to immediately cease all hostilities and acts of aggression, and resume dialogue in good faith," Cherdchai Chaivaivid told the council in remarks released to media. DECADES OF DISPUTES Cambodia's defence ministry said Thailand had launched "a deliberate, unprovoked, and unlawful military attack" on Thursday, and was now mobilising troops and military equipment on the border. "These deliberate military preparations reveal Thailand's intent to expand its aggression and further violate Cambodia's sovereignty," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Cambodia called for the international community to "condemn Thailand's aggression in the strongest terms" and to prevent an expansion of Thailand's military activities. Bangkok reiterated it wanted to resolve the dispute bilaterally, telling the Security Council it was "deeply regrettable that Cambodia has deliberately avoided meaningful dialogue and instead sought to internationalise the issue to serve its own political objectives". Thailand and Cambodia have bickered for decades over jurisdiction of various undemarcated points along their 817-km (508-mile) land border, with ownership of the ancient Hindu temples Ta Moan Thom and the 11th century Preah Vihear central to the disputes. Preah Vihear was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, but tension escalated in 2008 after Cambodia attempted to list it as a UNESCO World Heritage site. That led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths. Cambodia in June said it had asked the court to resolve its disputes with Thailand, which says it has never recognised the court's jurisdiction and prefers a bilateral approach.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Thai-Cambodian fighting extends into third day despite ceasefire calls
Royal Thai Army soldiers are pictured on armoured vehicles on a road in Chachoengsao province yesterday. Photo: LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA / AFP By Shoon Naing and Artorn Pookasook, of Reuters Fighting on the Thai-Cambodian border has extended into a third day and new flashpoints emerged as both sides sought diplomatic support, saying they had acted in self-defence and calling on the other to cease fighting and start negotiations. At least 30 people have been killed and more than 130,000 people displaced in the worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours in 13 years. The Thai navy said there were clashes in the coastal province of Trat early on Saturday, a new front more than 100 kilometres from other conflict points along the long-contested border. The two countries have faced off since the killing of a Cambodian soldier late in May during a brief skirmish. Troops on both sides of the border were reinforced amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand's fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse. Thailand's death toll remained at 19, while Cambodian Defence Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata said five soldiers and eight civilians had been killed in the fighting. In the Kanthralak district of Thailand's Sisaket province, on the border near some of the clashes, hotel worker Chianuwat Thalalai said the town had emptied out. "Nearly everybody's gone, it's almost a deserted city," the 31-year-old told Reuters. "My hotel is still open for some of those nearer to the border area that needs a place to stay." Thailand's ambassador to the United Nations told a Security Council meeting on Friday that soldiers had been injured by newly planted land mines in Thai territory on two occasions since mid-July - claims Cambodia has strongly denied - and said Cambodia had then launched attacks on Thursday morning. "Thailand urges Cambodia to immediately cease all hostilities and acts of aggression, and resume dialogue in good faith," Cherdchai Chaivaivid told the council in remarks released to media. Cambodia's defence ministry said Thailand had launched "a deliberate, unprovoked, and unlawful military attack" on Thursday, and was now mobilising troops and military equipment on the border. "These deliberate military preparations reveal Thailand's intent to expand its aggression and further violate Cambodia's sovereignty," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Cambodia called for the international community to "condemn Thailand's aggression in the strongest terms" and to prevent an expansion of Thailand's military activities. Bangkok reiterated it wanted to resolve the dispute bilaterally, telling the Security Council it was "deeply regrettable that Cambodia has deliberately avoided meaningful dialogue and instead sought to internationalise the issue to serve its own political objectives". Thailand and Cambodia have bickered for decades over jurisdiction of various undemarcated points along their 817km land border, with ownership of the ancient Hindu temples Ta Moan Thom and the 11th century Preah Vihear central to the disputes. Preah Vihear was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, but tension escalated in 2008 after Cambodia attempted to list it as a UNESCO World Heritage site. That led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths. Cambodia in June said it had asked the court to resolve its disputes with Thailand, which says it has never recognised the court's jurisdiction and prefers a bilateral approach. - Reuters
NZ Herald
6 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Trade on agenda as Trump lands in Scotland for diplomacy and golf
Trump is also due to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the trip. US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One bound for Scotland. Photo / Getty Images He said the meeting would be 'more of a celebration than a workout', appearing to row back on previous comments that a bilateral trade deal struck in May needed 'fine tuning'. 'The deal is concluded,' he told reporters on the tarmac at Prestwick. But the unpredictable American leader appeared unwilling to cede to a UK request for reduced steel and aluminium tariffs. Trump has exempted British exports from blanket 50% tariffs on both metals, but the fate of that carve-out remains unclear. 'If I do it for one, I have to do it for all,' Trump said in Washington before embarking on his flight, when asked if he had any 'wiggle room' for the UK on the issue. The international outcry over the conflict in Gaza may also be on the agenda, as Starmer faces growing pressure to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and announce that Britain will also recognise a Palestinian state. Protests Trump is due to return to the UK in September for a state visit – his second – at the invitation of King Charles III, which promises to be lavish. During a 2023 visit, Trump said he felt at home in Scotland, where his mother Mary Anne MacLeod grew up on the remote Isle of Lewis before emigrating to the United States at age 18. 'He's original, he does things the way he wants to. I think a lot of our politicians could take a good leaf out of his book,' 45-year-old Trump fan Lisa Hart told AFP as she waited to see his plane touch down. But the affection between Trump and Scotland is not always mutual. In this photo from February 2000, Donald Trump (left) – a real estate developer at the time – and his future wife, former model Melania Knauss, financier Jeffrey Epstein (now deceased) and Ghislaine Maxwell pose at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. Epstein and Maxwell were in later years convicted of sex trafficking offences. Photo / Getty Images Residents, environmentalists and elected officials have voiced discontent over the Trump family's construction of a new golf course, which he is expected to open before he departs the UK on Tuesday. Police Scotland, which is bracing for mass protests in Edinburgh and Aberdeen as well as close to Trump's golf courses, have said there will be a 'significant operation across the country over many days'. Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who will also meet Trump during the visit, said the nation 'shares a strong friendship with the United States that goes back centuries'. Trump has also stepped into the sensitive debate in the UK about green energy and reaching net zero, with Aberdeen being the heart of Scotland's oil industry. In May, he wrote on his Truth Social platform that the UK should 'stop with the costly and unsightly windmills' as he urged incentivising drilling for oil in the North Sea. US discontent The trip to Scotland puts physical distance between Trump and the latest twists in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier accused of sex trafficking who died in prison in 2019 before facing trial. In his heyday, Epstein was friends with Trump and others in the New York jet-set, but the President is now facing backlash from his own Maga supporters who demand access to the Epstein case files. Many support a conspiracy theory under which 'deep state' elites protected rich and famous people who took part in an Epstein sex ring. But Trump is urging his supporters to move on from the case. The Wall Street Journal, which published an article detailing longstanding links between Trump and the sex offender, is being punished by the White House. Its reporting team plan to travel to Scotland on their own and join the White House press pool but it has now been denied a seat on Air Force One for the flight home. While Trump's family has undertaken many development projects worldwide, the President no longer legally controls the family holdings. However, opponents and watchdog groups have accused him of having many conflicts of interest and using his position as US President to promote private family investments, especially abroad. – Agence France-Presse
