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Reader Barbara Osterling from California asks: 

I’d like to know, in this lawsuit and settlement frenzy, just where the settlement money goes. $221 million from Columbia, $16 million from Paramount, $16 million from ABC. Do the settlements go into the Treasury, into building President Donald Trump’s library, or what? And who is paying the lawyers for the almost daily lawsuits he is filing? Our tax dollars? I’m betting a lot of Americans would like some transparency on all of this.

Universities, media companies and law firms are striking multi-million dollar deals with the federal government and President Donald Trump to avoid being targeted by the current administration. 

To regain access to federal funding, Columbia and Brown have agreed to either pay fines to the government or donate money to workforce-development programs. They also have to comply with the government’s vision of how they should run their universities, which includes prohibiting the use of race in admissions decisions. 

Law firms are offering free services to the government, while media companies are settling with Trump by ponying up millions of dollars for his future presidential library. 

There is a distinction between these different settlements: Universities like Columbia are settling with the federal government, while media companies are settling with Trump because he personally has brought forth those lawsuits against them, said Brian Quinn, a professor at Boston College Law School.

“You can do a long search. You will not find President Biden or President Obama or President Bush, as a plaintiff, suing anybody in their personal capacities. It's just not a thing. But this president sees it as a valuable tool of coercion,” Quinn said. 

When it comes to these private lawsuits against the media, his own personal attorneys are handling these lawsuits, which means it’s unlikely taxpayer dollars are being used to pay them, experts told Marketplace. 

In response to these donations for Trump’s library, a group of Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill in July with a series of stipulations that include a ban on any donations while the president is in office (except for nonprofit donations) and a ban on the use of library donations for any personal expenses. 

“Our bill would ensure that presidential libraries are tools for teaching and preserving presidential history, and not just another corrupt self-enrichment scheme for the president,” said Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, one of the co-authors of the bill, in a press release.

Here’s an overview of some of the major settlements that institutions, media companies and law firms have reached with Trump or the government, and where that money is going.  

Universities

Two Ivy League universities are paying millions to either the government or work-related programs in exchange for restored federal funding. More colleges may follow suit, and the settlement mounts are likely to get larger. 

Columbia University:  $221 million

The university has agreed to pay the government a $200 million fine over three years after the government launched multiple investigations into allegations that Columbia discriminated against Jewish students. Columbia will now regain access to the $1.3 billion in federal funding that had largely been put on hold. 

That $200 million goes to the U.S. Treasury into a large pot of money — the same place where your federal tax dollars go. Congress then gets to decide how to appropriate that money, said Michael Dorf, a professor at Cornell Law School.

Columbia will also pay $21 million to resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish employees at Columbia following the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. That $21 million will go into a fund used to compensate employees who may have experienced antisemitism at the university after Oct. 7, 2023. 

The university has also agreed not to consider race, sex or national origin in its hiring decisions and will not “unlawfully preference” applicants based on those criteria either. 

Brown University: $50 million

The federal government reached an agreement with the Rhode Island institution to restore its research funding. As part of the agreement, the university will pay $50 million in grants over the next decade to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island.

Brown has said it will also take steps to combat antisemitism, refrain from considering race in the admissions process, and ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

Harvard University: Potentially $500 million

Harvard and the Trump administration are reportedly nearing a settlement deal in which Harvard would spend $500 million on research and workforce and vocational programs, while getting to avoid paying the federal government. In exchange, Harvard’s federal funding would be restored. The government began freezing the university’s funding after Harvard shut down several of its demands, including audits of its curriculum and surveys of its students’ political ideologies. 

University of California, Los Angeles: Potentially $1 billion

The Trump administration is asking for $1 billion in settlement funds to restore the university’s research funding. $584 million in federal grants were frozen after the Department of Justice alleged that UCLA created “a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”

Media companies

Up to $63 million has already been raised for Trump’s future presidential library through media lawsuits alone. Trump’s family created the nonprofit Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation to raise money for the project. The foundation aims to “steward, preserve, and celebrate the legacy and historical record of President Donald J. Trump and his presidency” according to the foundation’s incorporation documents. 

Paramount: $16 million 

Paramount, seeking approval for a merger with Skydance, settled Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News by agreeing to pay $16 million for Trump’s future presidential library.

Trump alleged that the network edited an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris to help her in the presidential election, even though CBS said it made edits due to timing constraints, which are standard practice. 

ABC News: $16 million 

ABC News settled Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the company by agreeing to pay $15 million for Trump’s presidential library and $1 million for Trump’s legal fees.

Trump sued ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation after 

Stephanopoulos said that the president was found civilly liable for raping author E. Jean Carroll (a jury found that Trump was liable for “sexual abuse”). 

Meta: $25 million

Meta reached a $25 million settlement with Trump after he sued the social media giant for suspending his Facebook and Instagram accounts in the wake of the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. 

$22 million of that money will go toward Trump’s library, and the remainder will go toward legal fees and other plaintiffs. 

X: $10 million
Trump also sued X after his account was suspended in 2021 following the Jan. 6 attacks, nearly two years before Elon Musk acquired the social media platform. The $10 million X settled for will go toward Trump’s legal fees and his presidential library.

Law firms

The Trump administration has targeted law firms that represent people or align with causes he dislikes, leading several of them to strike multi-million deals with the government. The administration threatened them by attempting to restrict their lawyers from accessing federal buildings and ending federal contracts with them. 

“Those monetary settlements are actually commitments by the law firms to engage in pro bono work,” Quinn said. 

The law firms have agreed to help with causes that involve veterans affairs or combating antisemitism, but the scope of their work could go beyond that. 

“Some of the language of these settlements are pretty loosey-goosey. It's even possible they might even represent Trump himself, personally, for free.” 

In addition to free services, law firms have also agreed to avoid using diversity, equity and inclusion policies during the hiring process. 

Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling US LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP: Each of these law firms will provide $125 million worth of free legal services to the Trump administration.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Milbank, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft: These law firms will each provide at least $100 million in pro bono services. 

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP: The firm will do $40 million in free legal work.