The Trump administration is still optimistic about the possibility of reaching a deal with Harvard University after it announced a $200 million settlement with Columbia University on Wednesday.

Federal officials pressuring Harvard University over allegations of mishandling antisemitism on campus considered an unprecedented tactic to force compliance: placing a lien on school property.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the investigation on Wednesday, the latest in a series of actions the Trump administration has taken targeting Harvard University.

All of Donald Trump's four eldest children went to one of two universities. His youngest, Barron Trump, is currently attending New York University.

Harvard is folding staff from its former offices for minority students, women and LGBTQ+ students into its new Office of Culture and Community, according to a Wednesday message from college officials.

“They’ve realized that they can take a bit of a step further, that they can advance their policy priorities through those levers they have through the state university system,” said Preston Cooper, a senior fellow who studies higher education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Harvard University was back in court Monday for a major hearing in its funding fight case against the Trump administration, a key step in a battle over restoring more than $2 billion in federal funding for research frozen by the White House this spring.

Hearings in cases over Trump's efforts to deport protesters and pull Harvard's federal funding were both held in a Boston courthouse on July 21.