Brown University agrees to pay $50m to settle dispute with Trump administration
Brown University announced on Wednesday it “reached a voluntary agreement with the federal government to restore funding for the University’s federally sponsored medical and health sciences research and resolve three open reviews assessing Brown’s compliance with federal nondiscrimination obligations”.
As part of the agreement, signed by Christina H Paxson, the president of Brown, attorney general Pam Bondi, education secretary Linda McMahon and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Brown will pay $50m “to state workforce development organizations operating in compliance with anti-discrimination laws” over the next 10 years.
One provision of the agreement stipulates that “Brown shall not maintain programs that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotas, diversity targets, or similar efforts”. Defining the effort to bring diversity to campuses as a form of illegal discrimination against white students is a core element of the Trump administration’s ideological war on higher education.
“Accordingly,” the agreement adds, “Brown will provide a timely report to the United States summarizing its compliance with this obligation, including an assurance that Brown has acted responsibly to ensure its programs do not promote unlawful DEI goals.”
Another provision, which might seem to be at odds with the ban on promoting diversity, is a commitment from the university to combat antisemitism by taking actions “to support a thriving Jewish community, research and education about Israel, and a robust Program in Judaic Studies, through outreach to Jewish Day School students to provide information about applying to Brown, resources for religiously observant Jewish community members, renewed partnerships with Israeli academics and national Jewish organizations, support for enhanced security at the Brown-RISD Hillel, and a convening of alumni, students, and faculty to celebrate 130 years of Jewish life at Brown”.
The education secretary called the agreement as evidence that the Trump administration “is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions”.
Key events
Trump announces trade deal to impose 15% tariffs on imports from South Korea, despite existing free trade agreement he signed
Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he has agreed to a new trade deal with South Korea that will subject South Korean imports to a 15% tariff rate. South Korean importers will pay no tariffs on US goods they purchase.
The new arrangement comes seven years after the president negotiated a slightly revised version of the existing US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, known as Korus, under which almost 95% of the goods traded between the two nations were free of tariffs. When that agreement was struck, Trump called the deal “fair and reciprocal” and praised it as a win for US auto-makers, since South Korea agreed to phase out a 25% tariff on US-made trucks.
Trump said that South Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States and purchase $100 billion in U.S. energy products.
Writing on his social media platform, Trump claimed that the new agreement meant that “South Korea will be completely OPEN TO TRADE with the United States, and that they will accept American product including Cars and Trucks, Agriculture, etc.”
Brown University agrees to pay $50m to settle dispute with Trump administration
Brown University announced on Wednesday it “reached a voluntary agreement with the federal government to restore funding for the University’s federally sponsored medical and health sciences research and resolve three open reviews assessing Brown’s compliance with federal nondiscrimination obligations”.
As part of the agreement, signed by Christina H Paxson, the president of Brown, attorney general Pam Bondi, education secretary Linda McMahon and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Brown will pay $50m “to state workforce development organizations operating in compliance with anti-discrimination laws” over the next 10 years.
One provision of the agreement stipulates that “Brown shall not maintain programs that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotas, diversity targets, or similar efforts”. Defining the effort to bring diversity to campuses as a form of illegal discrimination against white students is a core element of the Trump administration’s ideological war on higher education.
“Accordingly,” the agreement adds, “Brown will provide a timely report to the United States summarizing its compliance with this obligation, including an assurance that Brown has acted responsibly to ensure its programs do not promote unlawful DEI goals.”
Another provision, which might seem to be at odds with the ban on promoting diversity, is a commitment from the university to combat antisemitism by taking actions “to support a thriving Jewish community, research and education about Israel, and a robust Program in Judaic Studies, through outreach to Jewish Day School students to provide information about applying to Brown, resources for religiously observant Jewish community members, renewed partnerships with Israeli academics and national Jewish organizations, support for enhanced security at the Brown-RISD Hillel, and a convening of alumni, students, and faculty to celebrate 130 years of Jewish life at Brown”.
The education secretary called the agreement as evidence that the Trump administration “is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions”.
At the start of his remarks, before touting what he called the supposed benefits of helping Americans to access their medical records on their phones, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr took a moment to praise the way Donald Trump has changed the White House since January.
As Kennedy recalled visiting the Oval office when his uncle, John F Kennedy, was president, he said that the White House had become, over time, drab. He then thanked Trump for making it now “the opposite of drab”, a compliment that brought a massive smile to the face of the president.
Trump kicks off private health tracking system roundtable with false claim about praise from Saudi king
Donald Trump just spoke at the start of what’s billed as a Making Health Technology Great Again event at the White House, to unveil a new private health tracking system that asks Americans to share their personal health data and medical records with private tech companies.
While privacy advocates have raised alarms about the plan, Trump announced that what he called “the CMS Digital Health Tech Ecosystem” would “give healthcare providers, insurers and software companies the tools they need to empower Americans with a 21st Century experience on health.”
Before inviting his health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, to speak, Trump also recited a series of boasts about how well things are going under his leadership that have become a regular part of his remarks in all settings.
One of them was his claim that “the king of Saudi Arabia” told him on a recent visit to the Middle East that “one year ago, your country was dead, and today yo have the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
As we noted last week when Trump recited this story at an AI summit, Trump was not hosted on his trip by King Salman of Saudi Arabia, the 89-year-old monarch who has largely retreated from public life and took no part in the lavish ceremonies and meetings Trump attended in Riyadh.
Instead, Trump met with crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, who approved the 2018 murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a US intelligence report made public three weeks after the end of Trump’s first term.
Interim summary
Here are some of the latest developments we’re tracking in our continuing live coverage of the second Trump administration on Wednesday:
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The US Federal Reserve elected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady at between 4.25 and 4.5%, a rate it has maintained since the end of 2024. Two Trump-appointed officials on the central bank dissented.
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Kamala Harris, the former vice-president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, announced on Wednesday that she will not run for governor of California, or any elected office, “For now” – fueling speculation that she could run for the 2028 Democratic nomination.
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Donald Trump signed an executive order which adds a further 40% tariff to Brazilian imports – bringing the total to 50%. The order exempts hundreds of products that form a large share of Brazilian goods imported by the US, but not coffee.
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Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer outlined a new attempt to force attorney general Pam Bondi to release the files related to the federal investigations of Jeffrey Epstein.
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The treasury department announced sanctions against Alexandre de Moraes – the Brazil supreme court judge leading the prosecution of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, for allegedly attempting to launch a coup after losing the 2022 Brazilian election.
White House exempts hundreds of products from new Brazil tariffs, including oil and metals, but not coffee
The executive order issued by Donald Trump on Wednesday, imposing 50% tariffs on goods imported from Brazil – to punish the South American nation for supposedly “persecuting” its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for attempting to stay in power despite losing an election – exempts hundreds of products, including certain metals, aircraft parts, wood pulp, energy and energy products, and fertilizers.
The long list of exemptions included in an annex to the order on the White House website does not, however, include coffee, one of the main items American companies import from Brazil.
Stock trading ban moves ahead with Trump exemption
The Jeffrey Epstein files weren’t the only business of the day on Capitol Hill today. Legislation sponsored by Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri gained approval from a key committee today.
The bill was initially named the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act, which would bar elected members of Congress from buying, owning or selling individual stocks.
The bill’s original name takes a pointed jab at Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi – who has been criticised for her stock holdings. Democrats have since negotiated for the legislation to be renamed as the “Honest Act”.
In a statement today, Pelosi said:
I welcome any serious effort to raise ethical standards in public service. The HONEST Act, as amended, rightly applies its stock trading ban not only to Members of Congress, but now to the President and Vice President as well. I strongly support this legislation and look forward to voting for it on the Floor of the House.
However, since the legislation stipulates that the law doesn’t start until an elected official’s new term in office, it exempts Donald Trump and JD Vance.
Trump signs executive order increasing Brazil tariffs to 50%
Donald Trump signed an executive order which adds a further 40% tariff to Brazilian imports – bringing the total to 50%.
The White House says that the tariffs are a penalty for the Government of Brazil’s politically motivated persecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters. The administration maintains that these punitive tariffs are part of the President’s plans to protect “the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States from a foreign threat.”
This comes after the earlier move from the Treasury Department to issue sanctions against the high court judge overseeing Bolsonaro’s attempted coup trial.
Kamala Harris announces she won’t run for California governor
Lauren Gambino
Kamala Harris, the former vice-president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, announced on Wednesday that she will not run for governor of California – a highly anticipated decision that leaves the contest to lead the country’s largest blue state wide open.
In a statement Harris said:
For now, my leadership – and public service – will not be in elected office. I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plans.
Powell adds that today’s Federal Reserve meeting was “quite good” but there were two dissenters at the meeting.
And on the impact of tariffs, Powell says there has been “substantial amount of tariff revenue collected” each month. But he adds that the process with “probably be slower than expected at the beginning, but we never expected it to be fast, and we think we have a long way to go.”
Powell underscores the Fed’s reasoning:
The labor market looks solid. Inflation is above target. And even if you look through the tariff effects we think it’s still a bit above target.
Jerome Powell said that while the interest rate will remain steady today, there will be two rounds of jobs and inflation data by the time of the next meeting in September.
He did add, however, that they have made “no decisions about September,” but they will be taking that interim information into consideration ahead of the next decision.
Fed chair holds press conference on interest rate
Jerome Powell is outlining the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep the interest rate steady.
“Our obligation is to keep longer term inflation’s inflation expectations well anchored, and to prevent a one time increase in the price level from becoming an ongoing inflation problem,” he said.
