The US government told Harvard it violated federal civil-rights law in its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, ratcheting up the pressure on the oldest and richest US university to reach a settlement with the Trump administration to restore funding.

President Donald Trump signaled the feud could be coming to an end, saying, “It is very possible that a deal will be announced over the next week or so."

The letter detailed the findings of an investigation into antisemitism on the campus by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.