SACRAMENTO, California — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday blasted Donald Trump’s demand for $1 billion from UCLA over antisemitism allegations in return for millions of dollars in frozen federal research grants, describing the president’s move as an attempt to “silence academic freedom.”

The Trump administration has proposed the University of California pay more than $1 billion to settle antisemitism charges and restore frozen grant funding at UCLA. Newsom says the state will sue.

The U.S. Justice Department is asking for $1 billion from the University of California, Los Angeles in exchange for re-starting federal funding to the public land-grant research institution, school officials confirmed.