Talks in Washington. An expert on negotiation. A balancing act. The university chose cooperation over litigation, a strategy both pilloried and praised.

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.

A deal between Columbia University and the Trump administration calls for the Ivy League school to pay more than $220 million to resolve multiple federal investigations into alleged violations of federal antidiscrimination laws.