What's in Columbia's $220 million deal with Trump?
For the first time, the accord sets a definitive price tag for a U.S. college to assuage the Trump administration, which has made no secret of its disdain for many universities, especially the richest and most selective ones.
For Columbia, the cost of mollifying Trump was steep. Claire Shipman, the university's president, agreed the school would pay a $200 million fine to resolve funding disputes, plus an additional $21 million designated for university employees who said they'd faced discrimination or harm amid campus protests related to the Israel-Hamas war.
Read more: How Columbia University became the epicenter of disagreement over the Israel-Hamas war
Here are some of the details of the deal:
"This was a really, really complex problem," Shipman told CNN the morning after she made the announcement. "I will argue over and over again that choosing to listen, choosing to try to solve the problem with everything that we had at stake is not capitulation."
President Trump and Linda McMahon, his education secretary, have touted the agreement, saying it addresses years of conservative grievances with higher education - and offers a blueprint for future deals with campuses facing similar scrutiny.
Read more: After $220 million Columbia deal, Trump promises more to come
"Columbia's reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate," McMahon said in a statement following the resolution. "I believe they will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come."
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
Veronica Bravo is USA TODAY's graphics art director
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
‘More to do' on US steel tariffs than Trump and PM can resolve, minister signals
There is unlikely to be a 'resolution' in talks over US tariffs on UK steel when Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer meet on Monday, Jonathan Reynolds indicated, saying there was 'more to do' in negotiations. The Prime Minister will attempt to hammer out a deal on steel import levies when he meets the US president at Turnberry, Mr Trump's Ayrshire golf course. Sir Keir and Scotland's First Minister John Swinney also plan to urge the US president to apply pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the population is facing starvation. When the UK and US signed a trade deal in June, it reduced tariffs on car and aerospace imports to the US. But agreement on a similar arrangement for Britain's steel imports was not reached, leaving tariffs on steel at 25%. American concerns over steel products made elsewhere in the world, then finished in the UK, are said to be among the sticking points. Sir Keir is expected to spend most of the day with President Trump on Monday, when he will have a chance to press the president on a steel deal. But Business Secretary Mr Reynolds suggested it may take more than a meeting between the two leaders to resolve the matter, telling BBC Breakfast: 'We were very happy to announce the breakthrough that we had a few months ago in relation to sectors like automotive, aerospace, which are really important to the UK economy. 'But we always said it was job saved, but it wasn't job done. There's more to do. 'The negotiations have been going on on a daily basis since then. There's a few issues to push a little bit further today. 'We won't perhaps have anything to announce a resolution of those talks, but there's some sectors that we still need to resolve, particularly around steel and aluminium, and there's the wider conversation about what the US calls its reciprocal tariffs.' It comes after Mr Trump announced he had agreed 'the biggest deal ever made' between the US and the European Union after meeting Ursula von der Leyen for high-stakes talks at Turnberry on Sunday. After a day playing golf, the US leader met the president of the EU Commission to discuss the broad terms of an agreement that will subject the bloc to 15% tariffs on most of its goods entering America. This is lower than a 30% levy previously threatened by the US president. Sir Keir is also likely to use his time with Mr Trump to raise the starvation faced by the population of Gaza. The Prime Minister has condemned Israel for restricting the flow of aid into the territory, alongside the leaders of France and Germany. The UK will take part in efforts led by Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza, Sir Keir said over the weekend. Elsewhere, he is facing pressure from more than 220 MPs to immediately recognise the state of Palestine, something which French president Emmanuel Macron has promised to do. The US is the country 'with the leverage' to make a difference in the conflict in Gaza, the Business Secretary suggested. Mr Reynolds told BBC Breakfast that Gaza would 'of course' be on the agenda for the meeting of the two leaders, adding: 'The intolerable scenes that we're seeing, the world is seeing, are the backdrop to that. 'And of course, the US has itself secured on two occasions ceasefires in the conflict, so they have been actively engaged in it, working with Egypt, the Qataris, and other key partners in the region.' Mr Swinney also promised to raise Gaza with Mr Trump, as it was 'causing deep unease and concern and heartbreak within Scotland'.
The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
Starmer to raise Gaza ceasefire and UK steel tariffs in Trump meeting
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to raise the prospect of reviving ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and the future of tariffs on British steel as he meets Donald Trump in Scotland. The Prime Minister will travel to Ayrshire, where the US president is staying at his Turnberry golf resort, for wide-ranging discussions on trade and the Middle East as international alarm grows over starvation in Gaza. The two leaders have built a rapport on the world stage despite their differing political backgrounds, with Mr Trump praising Sir Keir for doing a 'very good job' in office ahead of their talks on Monday. But humanitarian conditions in Gaza and uncertainty over US import taxes on key British goods in America threaten to complicate their bilateral meeting. Peace talks in the Middle East came to a standstill last week after Washington and Israel recalled negotiating teams from Qatar, with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff blaming Hamas for a 'lack of desire' to reach an agreement. Since then, Israel has promised military pauses in three populated areas of Gaza to allow designated UN convoys of aid to reach desperate Palestinians. But the UK, which is joining efforts to airdrop aid into the enclave and evacuate children in need of medical assistance, has said that access to supplies must be 'urgently' widened. In his talks with Mr Trump, Sir Keir will 'welcome the President's administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza', Number 10 said. 'He will discuss further with him what more can be done to secure the ceasefire urgently, bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation in Gaza and free the hostages who have been held so cruelly for so long.' Scotland's First Minister John Swinney, who will also meet the president during his five day visit to the country, said he would urge Mr Trump to apply pressure on Israel to agree to a lasting ceasefire and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. 'I think what's important is that we focus on the solutions that are required now, and the absolutely immediate situation is a necessity for a ceasefire and for humanitarian aid to need to flow into Gaza so that the people of Gaza can be saved from the starvation that they face,' Mr Swinney told BBC Breakfast. 'And that is the blunt human reality of the situation that we face, and there must be an intensification of pressure on Israel. 'And I think President Trump is ideally positioned. In fact, he's perhaps uniquely positioned to apply that pressure to Israel to ensure that there is safe passage for humanitarian aid to support the people of Gaza, who face an absolutely unbearable set of circumstances as a consequence of the conflict. 'And a key part of that must be the application of a durable ceasefire, the flow of humanitarian aid and the progress towards a two state solution in the Middle East.' The Prime Minister and US president will also talk 'one-on-one about advancing implementation of the landmark Economic Prosperity Deal so that Britons and Americans can benefit from boosted trade links between their two countries', it said. The agreement signed at the G7 summit last month slashed trade barriers on goods from both countries. But tariffs for the steel industry, which is of key economic importance to the UK, were left to stand at 25% rather than falling to zero as originally agreed. Concerns had previously been raised that the sector could face a levy of up to 50% – the US's global rate – unless a further agreement was made by July 9, when Mr Trump said he would start implementing import taxes on America's trading partners. But that deadline has been and gone without any concrete update on the status of UK steel. Downing Street said that both sides are working 'at pace' to 'go further to deliver benefits to working people on both sides of the Atlantic' and to give UK industry 'the security it needs'. Mr Swinney said he would use his meeting with President Trump to press him to exempt Scotch whisky from US trade tariffs. The First Minister said the 'uniqueness' of whisky made in Scotland justified the exemption from the 10% tariff applied on UK exports into the US. Sir Keir and Mr Trump are also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, which Number 10 said would include 'applying pressure' on Vladimir Putin to end the invasion, before travelling on together for a private engagement in Aberdeen. It comes after Mr Trump announced he had agreed 'the biggest deal ever made' between the US and the European Union after meeting Ursula von der Leyen for high-stakes talks at Turnberry on Sunday. After a day playing golf, the US leader met the President of the EU Commission to hammer out the broad terms of an agreement that will subject the bloc to 15% tariffs on most of its goods entering America. This is lower than a 30% levy previously threatened by the US president. The agreement will include 'zero for zero' tariffs on a number of products including aircraft, some agricultural goods and certain chemicals, as well as EU purchases of US energy worth 750 billion dollars (£558 billion) over three years. Speaking to journalists on Sunday about his meeting with Sir Keir, Mr Trump said: 'We're meeting about a lot of things. We have our trade deal and it's been a great deal. 'It's good for us. It's good for them and good for us. I think the UK is very happy, they've been trying for 12 years to get it and they got it, and it's a great trade deal for both, works out very well. 'We'll be discussing that. I think we're going to be discussing a lot about Israel. 'They're very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen. 'He's doing a very good job, by the way.' Mr Trump's private trip to the UK comes ahead of a planned state visit in September.
Fashion United
a few seconds ago
- Fashion United
Louis Vuitton to open new workshop in the US, announces Bernard Arnault
Leather goods maker Louis Vuitton, flagship brand of luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), will open a new workshop in the US "to meet demand", LVMH Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault said on Thursday. "Louis Vuitton already had a workshop in the US when I arrived at LVMH. Given the development of the house in the US, we opened a new one five years ago. We plan to open another one to meet demand, also in Texas," he announced in an interview with Le Figaro. This new workshop will be near Dallas, where Louis Vuitton already has a workshop. The new workshop, inaugurated in 2019 in the presence of Donald Trump, is expected to be delivered in late 2026 or early 2027, a source close to the matter told AFP. LVMH, which makes 25 percent of its sales in the US, already has three Louis Vuitton workshops and four workshops of the American brand Tiffany & Co. (Tiffany) on US territory. "For our American clients, buying a Louis Vuitton product Made in USA is no problem at all," Arnault said. In May, his competitor François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, said that "it wouldn't make sense to have Italian Gucci bags made in Texas." During the first round of negotiations on US tariffs in April, Arnault, who had attended Donald Trump's inauguration four months earlier, said that if "we end up with high tariffs, we will have to increase our American production." One month later, he and his son Alexandre were received at the White House by Trump, who called them "very good friends" in the run-up to preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
