Newsom Goes Nuclear: Threatens Colleges That Back Trump’s Education Agenda

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has gone DEFCON-1 on President Trump’s new education agenda — threatening to yank billions in state funding from any California university that dares join Trump’s sweeping “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

Trump’s 10-page declaration demands universities ditch DEI ideology, stop using race and gender-conscious admission standards, freeze tuition hikes, cap international student enrollment, and enforce free speech protections for conservative students. The compact calls for ending race-based hiring, restoring standardized tests like the SAT, and banning the use of endowment money for political causes.

The Trump administration sent the compact to nine elite universities this week — including the University of Southern California, the only school in California on the list. Those universities that agreed would get preferential access to massive federal grants, increased overhead payments, and priority in civil rights investigations.

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Newsom responded in all-caps rage, appearing to mock Trump’s social media style: “IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY’LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY. CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.”

USC — a private university — received $28.4 million in Cal Grants last year alone. Statewide, private institutions hauled in $227.6 million. Public colleges, such as the University of California and California State University systems, raked in a whopping $2.2 billion from Cal Grants in the most recent budget year. Newsom is threatening to axe it all.

The legacy media is clutching pearls over the compact, warning that Trump is “politicizing” higher ed. But White House adviser May Mailman stated, “Our hope is that a lot of schools see that this is highly reasonable.”

Meanwhile, the usual suspects are losing their minds. Ted Mitchell of the American Council on Education called the proposal a “Faustian bargain.” Larry Summers — Obama’s former Treasury Secretary — said it’s like “fixing a watch with a hammer.”

The compact also explicitly defends women’s sports by requiring colleges to recognize biological sex in athletics and protect fairness in competition — a direct rebuke to Newsom’s radical gender policies.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson fired back at Newsom’s tantrum, saying, “Gavin Newscum should worry about the disaster he’s created in his own state.” She added that opposing the compact means opposing “efforts to cap wild tuition hikes and protect free speech.”