US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his administration has reached a settlement with Harvard University under which the institution would pay $500 million to resolve a long-running dispute with the federal government.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the deal was close to completion. “Linda is finishing up the final details,” he said, referring to Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

“And they’ll be paying about $500m and they’ll be operating trade schools. They’re going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other things, engines, lots of things,” he added.

arvard has not confirmed the settlement, and it remains unclear whether the terms outlined by the president match any agreement the university has considered.

The announcement follows months of friction between the Trump administration and Harvard, which began with accusations that the university had violated laws in its handling of Jewish and Israeli students. Trump argued that the university permitted antisemitic behaviour on campus, a claim Harvard denied.

Earlier this year, Trump announced that his administration was cutting federal funding to Harvard and attempting to bar the university from enrolling international students. He had also insisted that his government “wants nothing less than $500m from Harvard” before restoring research funding and grants.