UCLA’s White House Talks Snarled in Newsom’s Fight With Trump

As the University of California at Los Angeles works to follow other schools in reaching a deal with the White House to restore federal funding, it faces a unique complication: Governor Gavin Newsom’s crusade against the Trump administration.

Leaders at the sprawling University of California system have discussed how to insulate their talks with administration officials from political backlash to the governor, according to a person familiar with the matter. And after Newsom vowed to fight the administration on the funding freeze, some researchers at UCLA expressed worries that the approach could backfire.

Newsom’s posture is already having an ...