The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom has rejected the request of the administration of US President Donald Trump that the University of California, Los Angeles pay $ 1 billion to settle a dispute with the White House, the ag reported. Reuters.
„Donald Trump is using the Justice Department as a weapon to undermine America's leading public university system by freezing funding for medicine and science until the University of California, Los Angeles, pays him a $1 billion ransom, Newsom's office said in a statement.
According to the agency, the governor called the government's demand “political blackmail“ that the state of California “will not comply“.
It is noted that The University of California has previously said it is considering the Trump administration's offer of $1 billion in compensation after the government stopped funding to the university due to protests in support of Palestine.
Trump and his administration have repeatedly spoken out against statements about prestigious American universities. In particular, the US Department of Health and Human Services canceled $ 60 million in federal grants intended for Harvard University, because, in the opinion of the department, the university failed to address the problems of anti-Semitism, ethnic and racial discrimination, and the White House suspended the university's permission to admit students from foreign countries.