The Evening: Columbia makes concessions to Trump

Also, a judge weighs in on Trump's immigration crackdown.

View in browser|nytimes.com March 21, 2025 By Desiree Ibekwe Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Friday. Columbia cedes to Trump An immigration crackdown Plus, a defense of bad wedding toasts José A. Alvarado Jr. for The New York Times Columbia concedes to Trump In acquiescence to President Trump, Columbia University today agreed to overhaul its security and protest policies, and its Middle Eastern studies department. The Trump administration accused Columbia of failing to protect students and staff from antisemitic violence and harassment, and refused to consider restoring $400 million in federal funding without the university making the changes. As part of the agreement, Columbia plans to largely ban masks on campus and hire a new internal security force. The university will also appoint a provost to oversee the university's Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies department. The administration called for the department to be placed under academic receivership. Historians and professors had expressed concern about the government's possible intervention: "It is one small department in one university," said a retired former chair of the department. "But it will reverberate across the entire country." Columbia's agreement comes as the White House bears down on higher education institutions. Other elite colleges and universities — including Harvard and Stanford — face federal inquiries. And earlier this week, the administration said it would cancel $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania, at least partly because it had allowed a transgender woman on its women's swim team. For more: Decades ago, Columbia refused to pay Trump $400 million. He didn't forget it. Judge James Boasberg Erin Schaff/The New York Times Judge skeptical of Trump administration's use of wartime law A federal judge in Washington raised concerns about the White House's use of the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely cited 18th-century wartime law, to deport immigrants from the country. Judge James Boasberg suggested that the administration stretched the use of the statute by applying it to Venezuelans it accused of being part of a criminal gang. "The policy ramifications of this are incredibly troublesome and problematic and concerning," Judge Boasberg said in a hearing today. The deportation of undocumented migrants is just one part of Trump's immigration crackdown, which has also targeted legal residents and tourists. U.S. officials have arrested a Georgetown academic; blocked a Brown professor from re-entering the country, despite her having a visa and a court order blocking her removal; and detained two German tourists who entered the country legally. For more: ICE agents have asked a Cornell student activist to turn himself in. In other politics news: The Trump administration fired nearly the entire civil rights branch of the Homeland Security Department, the office responsible for oversight of Trump's immigration crackdown. Trump announced that he would move more core functions of the Education Department to other agencies, including the handling of student loans and special education services. Elon Musk was expected to attend a briefing at the Pentagon about America's plans for a possible war with China. The briefing was scrapped following Times reporting. The next generation of fighter jet will be called the F-47, Trump said, a number chosen to memorialize his presidency. Boeing won the contract. Fifteen Senate Democrats asked internal watchdogs in more than a dozen agencies to investigate job cuts made by the DOGE team. Are we in a constitutional crisis? Yes, but that's not the exact right question, our Supreme Court reporter says in this video. The U.S. rebuffed claims that a French scientist was denied entry into the country because of an opinion he expressed about the Trump administration. The commander of a sniper unit observes Rapid Support Forces positions. Ivor Prickett for The New York Times Sudan's military recaptured the presidential palace This morning marked a potential turning point in Sudan's two-year civil war, as government forces recaptured the presidential palace in the nation's capital, Khartoum. Sudanese forces wrested control of the building after days of heavy fighting with the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group. The palace is in ruins, but its retaking is a symbolic victory. The military lost much of Khartoum in the early days of the war in April 2023, but in a six-month counteroffensive it has recaptured states in southeastern Sudan and pushed the R.S.F. out of the capital. Illustration by Taylor Callery A famous longevity guru sought control via confidentiality agreements Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur, is the face of Silicon Valley's longevity obsession. He was the subject of a Netflix documentary last year, in which he spoke about his start-up, Blueprint, which sells health supplements and blood-testing equipment. To protect his image and his companies, Johnson frequently employs confidentiality agreements — his employees, sexual partners, vendors and contractors have all had to sign the documents, according to people close to him and his start-ups, internal documents and court records. That control has started to fray. As Blueprint has faced mounting financial and product-quality questions, employees have challenged the agreements. More top news Britain: A giant fire knocked out power at London's Heathrow, among the world's busiest airports. Follow our live coverage. China: Buried in the latest government budget was an alarming trend: Tax revenue fell further last year than ever before. Russia: Kyiv and Moscow are preparing to negotiate a halt to strikes on energy infrastructure. Each blamed the other when a Russian gas station was set ablaze overnight. New York City: Two accused members of the Russian mob were found guilty for plotting to murder Masih Alinejad, an Iranian dissident. Mexico: The discovery of an "extermination camp," possibly run by a cartel, has sent families searching for missing loved ones. Business: Tesla recalled nearly all its Cybertrucks after exterior trim panels started falling off. New Orleans: A group of men said they had warned authorities about a woman who has been charged with murder in the death of a Telemundo reporter. Health: According to the World Happiness Report, Americans are unhappier than ever. An increase in eating alone may be a sign. Lives Lived: Hugues Oyarzabal, a surfing star who took viewers into the barrel of the wave with an onboard camera, died at 39. TIME TO UNWIND A costume from Wes Anderson's "Rushmore." Elliott Verdier for The New York Times A French dispatch Now on display at a Paris museum are hundreds of props that make up the unmistakable visual style of the director Wes Anderson: symmetry, retro fashion and pastel colors. Curators spent years trawling through Anderson's archive to compile a retrospective. The show, which opened at the Cinémathèque Française this week, features 500 exhibits, including a candy pink hotel model from "The Grand Budapest Hotel," explorer outfits from "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" and a fur coat worn by Gwyneth Paltrow in "The Royal Tenenbaums." See pictures from the exhibition. Hiroshi Yoshimura in 1993. Nuvola Yoko Yoshimura A 'god-level' composer Hiroshi Yoshimura's music doesn't demand a lot of your attention, but rewards close listening. In the 1980s and '90s, Yoshimura released albums of kankyō ongaku, or environmental music that were gentle and reflective, minimal and melodic. Yoshimura, who died in 2003, was little-known outside Japan during his lifetime. In recent years, however, his global audience has grown. YouTube's algorithm has delivered his music to a new generation of listeners looking for relaxing sounds, and a series of reissues brought it to streaming platforms for the first time. Xander Maddox Dinner table topics Office chic: Some employees have made dressing up for work into an influencer side hustle. Ghostly encounter: A lunar lander named Blue Ghost just completed its mission. Scientists will be studying its data about the moon's dust and subsurface for years. Long-lost art: A painting by Gustav Klimt of Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona of the Gold Coast (now Ghana) resurfaced at an art fair. "Sharktopus": Watch a Maori octopus — the largest octopus in the Southern Hemisphere — hitch a ride on top of a shark. WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND Christopher Testani for The New York Times Cook: Make bitter mustard greens silky and delicious with this easy approach. Revisit: The highly influential British comedy "Peep Show." Cultivate: Keep your relationship fun. Here's how. Wear: An elevated take on the basket bag. Read: A near-perfect poem with our critic A.O. Scott. Catch: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's latest play, "Purpose," on Broadway. Compete: Take this week's news quiz. Play: Here are today's Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all of our games here. ONE LAST THING Illustration by Nata Metlukh Raise a glass On television and in movies, bad wedding toasts are fertile comedic ground. It's easy to see why. They can be too long or clichéd; worse still, the speaker might reveal too much about the couple — or about themselves. Despite all this, for prospective toast makers our comedy columnist has a suggestion: take a big swing. "The reality about bad toasts is that most of them are not disasters, just merely forgettable," Jason Zinoman writes. "The best ones are a little messy." Have a memorable weekend. Thanks for reading. Matthew Cullen will be back on Monday. — Desiree Kirsten Luce was our photo editor today. We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com. Writer: Matthew Cullen Editors: Carole Landry, Whet Moser, Justin Porter, Jonathan Wolfe Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for The Evening from The New York Times. To stop receiving The Evening, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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