University of California now Trump administration target

Leo Terrell, senior counsel at the Department of Justice and head of its antisemitism task force, singled out the University of California (UC) system on Tuesday as the next target of the Trump administration.  

There will be “massive lawsuits against [the] UC system” and other colleges “on the East Coast, on the West Coast, in the Midwest,” Terrell said in an interview with Fox News.

“Expect hate crime charges filed by the federal government. Expect Title VII lawsuits,” he added. 

The Hill has reached out to UC for comment. 

It is the first indication of where the Trump administration may move next in its higher education fight after escalating its battle with Harvard University to extreme heights.  

President Trump has taken almost $3 billion in funding from Harvard, threatening $3 billion more, wants to take away the university’s ability to have foreign students on campus and has threatened its tax-exempt status. 

Harvard has sued over the paused funding and order to take away the Ivy League school’s ability to admit foreign students. 

But Terrell said the Trump administration is ready to “battle in the courtroom,” taking the fight to the highest level it needs. 

‘’If it goes all the way to the Supreme Court, Trump is going to do that,” he said.  

Massive lawsuits against UC would signal the first major fight against a state public university, with many of the major actions focused on Ivy League schools thus far. 

“We have to bring these universities to their knees,” Terrell told Fox News near the end of the interview.