A federal judge issued an order preventing the Trump administration from threatening the University of California system’s federal funding, in a rare judicial rebuke of White House tactics. The ruling addresses a broader campaign by the administration to pressure elite campuses over diversity programs and other campus policies. The decision could reshape settlement talks between the Justice Department and UC and signals judicial willingness to curb federal officials’ use of funding threats as leverage. For public university leaders and counsel, the ruling underscores both legal tools available to defend institutional autonomy and the political volatility of federal grant relationships.