NATIONAL NEWS – Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard in political war with the university

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

President Trump has threatened to revoke Harvard’s status as tax-exempt on social media in an effort to control the university through its finances. In a social media post on the platform Truth Social, Trump said, “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?’” This is the latest in the confrontation between Harvard and the Trump administration. This issue has heated up since Trump sent a list of demands to Harvard last Friday, saying that all demands must be met or Harvard would lose around $9 billion in federal funding.

Yesterday, Harvard’s president formally rejected Trump’s demands, saying that they were illegal and an intolerable attempt to dictate “what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.” The administration responded within hours and froze over $2.2 billion in grants and multi-year contracts to Harvard. Much of it was intended for research on a wide range of subjects. Many leaders in higher education welcomed Harvard’s stance, saying the school was uniquely positioned to take the lead.