White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday challenged California Gov. Gavin Newsom to follow through on his threat to sue the Trump administration.
Newsom accused the administration of “extortion” after the Department of Justice proposed that the University of California, Los Angeles pay $1 billion to settle allegations of antisemitism on campus. At the briefing, Leavitt said the administration is “well within its legal right” to make the proposal.
“Bring it on, Gavin,” Leavitt said. “This administration is well within its legal right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities are respecting the First Amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses and UCLA has failed to do that. And I have a whole list of examples that I will forward to Gavin Newsom’s press office if he hasn’t seen them himself.”
Watch the clip below:
Reporter: Gavin Newsom is planning to sue in response to the Government's demand for a billion from UCLA over the DOJ's antisemitism findings… what is your response?
Leavitt: Bring it on, Gavin. This administration is well within its legal right to do this. pic.twitter.com/tW9fmxpysy
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) August 12, 2025
The proposal calls for UCLA to pay $1 billion to the federal government and contribute $172 million to a claims fund for victims of civil rights violations. In return, the administration would restore $584 million in federal research funding.
UCLA was at the center of anti-Israel protests in 2023, where administrators allegedly failed to stop a “Jew Exclusion Zone” that required students to publicly denounce Israel to access parts of campus. Some officials were reportedly caught privately cheering on the protesters and expressing hopes to reward them for their activism.
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