Trump Says Deal Reached to End Feud with Harvard

The president later said some details are still being finalized, but the university would pay $500 million, support trade schools and take other unspecified actions.

By Mackenzie Wilkes

09/30/2025 06:14 PM EDT

President Donald Trump said Tuesday his administration has reached a tentative deal with Harvard University, the Ivy League school that’s been embroiled in a bitter feud with the White House.

“We reached a deal with Harvard today,” Trump said during an unrelated executive order signing.

The president initially said all that was left was for Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “paper it out,” but later said McMahon “is finishing up the final details” and he thinks the administration has “a good chance of getting that closed.”

The deal could include Harvard paying $500 million, operating trade schools, teaching artificial intelligence and other unspecified actions: “And then their sins are forgiven,” Trump said.

A Harvard University spokesperson did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

Harvard notched a victory earlier this month after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze more than $2 billion in research grants was illegal. But the administration has continued to take steps to choke off funding for the nation’s oldest university, as recently as Monday, when the Department of Health and Human Services said it was referring the school to proceedings that could ultimately block Harvard from receiving federal funds.

A deal could cap the feud with the Trump administration that has threatened the finances, enrollment and business practices of the nation’s oldest university.

The news of a potential deal comes after other Ivy League schools made deals with the administration to restore their funding.

Brown University, for instance, agreed to pay $50 million in grants over 10 years to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island, and Columbia University’s settlement included a $200 million payment to the federal government over three years. Other non-Ivy League schools, like the University of California, Los Angeles, are facing pressure from the Trump administration to pay a settlement to restore federal research cash.