As California feels the hand of President Donald Trump’s policies, a new report said the administration could go as far as cutting all funding to California’s public colleges.
According to CNN, staffers in multiple agencies are combing the files for grants to California entities that can be canceled.
What CNN called “full termination of federal grant funding for the University of California and California State University systems” is also under consideration, CNN reported, citing sources it did not name.
California universities could be targeted over anti-Semitism on campus, CNN said its sources claimed.
“No taxpayer should be forced to fund the demise of our country,” White House representative Kush Desai said in a statement Friday afternoon. “No final decisions, however, on any potential future action by the Administration have been made, and any discussion suggesting otherwise should be considered pure speculation.”
In late May, Trump expressed his anger on Truth Social that California has rejected his executive order banning men from playing in women’s sports, referencing the recent case of yet another self-described transgender athlete winning sports titles.
“California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newscum, continues to ILLEGALLY allow ‘MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.’ This week a transitioned Male athlete, at a major event, won ‘everything,’ and is now qualified to compete in the ‘State Finals’ next weekend. As a Male, he was a less than average competitor. As a Female, this transitioned person is practically unbeatable,” Trump wrote.
“THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS. Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to,” Trump wrote.
This past week, the Trump administration said it was canceling $4 billion in grants to California’s high-speed train project that has been proposed to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to The New York Times. The plan was initially forecast to cost $33 billion and be completed by 2020. Cost estimates have now hit $128 billion and no end date is even projected.
Should Trump cut off California?
The Trump administration and California are at odds over more than just dollars, as noted by the Los Angeles Times.
On Friday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 44 people in Los Angeles, bringing the total number of ICE arrests in the city for the week to 118.
That led Mayor Karen Bass to say on social media, “We will not stand for this,” to which FBI Director Kash Patel reposted: “We will.”
We will https://t.co/T9Jlc63egl
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) June 7, 2025
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said that if California is poorly treated, it would try to refuse to send along taxes that belong to Washington.
“Californians pay the bills for the federal government. We pay over $80 BILLION more in taxes than we get back. Maybe it’s time to cut that off, @realDonaldTrump,” Newsom wrote on X.
Desai, in response, noted California’s embrace of “lunatic anti-energy, soft-on-crime, pro-child mutilation, and pro-sanctuary policies,” according to Politico.
“The Trump administration is committed to ending this nightmare and restoring the California Dream,” Desai said in a statement.
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