The White House is pushing Harvard for a major financial settlement in negotiations to restore more than $2 billion in frozen funds, according to a person familiar with the talks — and demanding that Harvard cough up even more than Columbia University did earlier this week.

The White House had canceled more than $400 million in research funding to the university, saying it had failed to protect Jewish students from harassment.

"Well it's a lot of money," Trump told reporters when asked at the White House if $500 million would be enough to make a deal. The New York Times reported on Monday that the Ivy League institution was open to spending up to that amount to settle the dispute.