United States | News & Politics

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday threatened to cut "billions" in state funding, including to USC, from any California campus that agrees to a Trump administration compact to enact sweeping and largely conservative campus policies in exchange for priority access to federal funding.

"If any California University signs this radical agreement, they’ll lose billions in state funding — including Cal Grants — instantly," Newsom said. "California will not bankroll schools that sell out their students, professors, researchers, and surrender academic freedom."

The bold statement came less than a day after the White House asked the University of Southern California and eight other major universities throughout the country to shift to the right and follow Trump's views on gender identity, admissions, diversity and free speech among other areas — in exchange for more favorable access to federal research grants and additional funding.