A flag hangs on campus at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., September 4, 2025. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Negotiations between the Trump administration and Harvard University are close to being finalized, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon told reporters at the White House on Thursday.

The administration has opened a number of investigations into the university to monitor its compliance with U.S. President Donald Trump's directives, an effort critics say amounts to political persecution.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Gram Slattery; Editing by Chris Reese)