Trump vs Harvard: US President Donald Trump has threatened to tax Harvard University as a political entity after it rejected demands to limit activism on campus. The US government has also indicated that it will be freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University after the institutions refusal to comply with the administration’s demands to regulate campus protests, enhance faculty viewpoint diversity, and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. The university argues that these demands infringe upon its First Amendment rights and academic independence .
‘Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting “Sickness?” Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The Trump administration’s wider effort has taken aim at universities nationwide, accusing them of promoting Marxist and anti-American ideologies. Harvard’s defiance has earned backing from peer institutions like Princeton and Stanford, which stress the value of intellectual freedom. Meanwhile, critics argue that the administration’s actions threaten academic independence and violate constitutional protections.
Harvard President Alan Garber had earlier issued a letter to students and faculty, vowing to resist the government’s demands. He firmly stated that the university would not “negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights.”
In response, the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced it would withhold $2.2 billion in multi-year federal grants and freeze an additional $60 million in government contracts.
Last Friday, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard University—an institution that predates the United States by 140 years—demanding the termination of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across hiring, admissions, and campus programs. The letter also urged the university to diminish the influence of students and faculty in institutional decision-making and called for comprehensive screening of student organizations and international students, citing the need to combat antisemitism on campus.
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