President Donald Trump is going after Harvard. On Tuesday, he threatened to strip the university of its tax-exempt status after it refused to follow his administration’s demands, accusing the Ivy League school of pushing ‘terrorist’ ideology.
“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?’” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”
This is the latest clash in a growing battle between the Trump administration and elite universities. Trump’s team told Harvard on Friday that it must overhaul its protest rules and scale back diversity and inclusion programs if it wants to keep getting federal funding. The administration says it’s responding to rising antisemitism on college campuses after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.
Harvard refused.
“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,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a statement Monday.
In response, the Trump administration froze over $2 billion in federal grants to the university.
Harvard’s defiance sparked praise from Democrats. Former President Barack Obama posted on X: “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect.”
Read Trump’s post below:
