The Trump administration scaled back a key financial demand in its dispute with Harvard University, abandoning insistence on a $200 million payment as part of a negotiated resolution, The New York Times reports. The retreat lowers a major barrier to settlement after protracted negotiations and stiff pushback from Harvard and its allies. The reduced demand could hasten resolution of federal investigations and preserve research funding flows, though details remain in flux and legal teams on both sides continue to negotiate terms tied to other compliance and administrative commitments.