As Donald Trump’s second term got underway, and the Republican White House’s aggressive offensive against higher education intensified, Columbia University in New York was one of the first schools to embrace a strategy rooted in appeasement. Indeed, in March, Columbia agreed to several of the White House’s demands in the hope that the president would restore $400 million in federal funding that the president and his team had cut off.
Initially, it didn’t work. Not only did the school fail to get its money back, but the administration escalated matters last month, threatening the university’s accreditation status.
This week, Columbia cried “uncle.” NBC News reported:
Columbia University will pay $200 million to the federal government to restore the majority of funding that was cut by the Trump administration over allegations it violated anti-discrimination laws. … Columbia said in the Wednesday statement that under the agreement ‘a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 — will be reinstated and Columbia’s access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored.’
As part of the deal, the university — which did not admit to any wrongdoing — agreed to, among many other things, establish a “a jointly selected independent monitor” and provide regular reports to the Trump administration about its “continued compliance with applicable federal laws and regulations pertaining to admissions, hiring, and international students.”
Not surprisingly, Education Secretary Linda McMahon was delighted with the developments, and made some conservative media appearances to celebrate the morning after the agreement was reached.
Linda McMahon on Columbia settlement: "This is a monumental victory for conservatives who wanted to do things on these elite campuses for a long time because we had such far left-leaning professors."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-07-24T12:10:32.837Z
“I think this is a monumental victory for conservatives who wanted to do things on these elite campuses for a long time because we had such far left-leaning professors,” she told Fox Business, adding: “I’m really pleased with this victory. It wouldn’t have happened if Donald Trump weren’t president.”
She added that the administration’s fight against Columbia was part of a larger political effort to ensure that “the viewpoints need to be balanced” on college campuses.
But that’s not what the education secretary was supposed to say. The whole point of the administration’s efforts regarding the university was, according to the official line, about protecting students from antisemitic harassment and combating antisemitism in higher education. That wasn’t a side goal; it was the reason for the dispute in the first place. And yet, there was McMahon, boasting to a national television audience the day after the agreement was reached, touting “a monumental victory for conservatives,” taking a rhetorical shot at “left-leaning professors” and prioritizing “balanced” political viewpoints. To be sure, this wasn’t altogether surprising, but it was striking to hear the Cabinet secretary accidentally admit that effort wasn’t just about combating antisemitism. Several years ago, Michael Kinsley famously wrote, “A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth — some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say.” The line came to mind anew watching McMahon on Thursday morning. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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