BOSTON - A federal judge Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to restore more than $2.6 billion in research funding to Harvard University, delivering a significant legal victory to the institution in its ongoing conflict with the White House, the Associated Press reports .

The ruling addresses claims of illegal retaliation and sets the stage for further legal battles. Here are four takeaways from the ruling.

1. Funding cuts were “Illegal retaliation”

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs found that the cuts constituted illegal retaliation for the university’s refusal to accept government demands regarding its policies and governance.

Burroughs wrote that the administration’s justification was a “smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premi

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