Trump issues new threat to Harvard after administration freezes federal funding
President Donald Trump has issued a new threat against Harvard University after his administration froze billions of dollars in federal funding to the Ivy League school.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump said that the university could potentially lose its tax-exempt status. This comes after the administration froze $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard following the university's refusal to meet certain demands, with Harvard stating that it would not "surrender its independence."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "Unfortunately, Harvard has not taken the president or the administration demands seriously."
The administration demanded that Harvard implement "merit-based" admissions and hiring policies, shut down DEI programs, and audit the viewpoint diversity of its student body, faculty, and staff. It also called for the university to do more to address the harassment of Jewish students. "Jewish American students, or students of any faith, should not be illegally harassed and targeted on our nation's college campuses," Leavitt said.
Harvard President Alan Garber stated that the school has taken steps to address antisemitism and argued that the majority of the federal government's demands are aimed at controlling the community. In a letter, he wrote, "No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue."
Some students support the university's pushback. "Overwhelmingly, us the students, this is what we want to see from them," one Harvard student said.
The administration is also investigating Princeton, Cornell, and Brown University, pausing their funding in the meantime.
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, "Actually, getting calls now from the presidents of the universities who really do wanna come in and sit down and have discussions."
Six out of the seven universities the administration has taken action against are Ivy League schools.
Harvard's refusal is already influencing others. Columbia University, which was the administration's first target and originally accepted several demands under the threat of losing billions in funding, is now saying some demands are not up for negotiation.
The federal government said that if Harvard did not comply, nearly $9 billion in grants and contracts would be at risk.