US President Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on Harvard University, seeking to revoke its tax-exempt status and freeze federal research contracts after the institution refused to submit to external political supervision.
According to reports from CNN and The Washington Post, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is now preparing to strip Harvard of its nonprofit designation following a formal request from the Trump administration. This step follows the president’s repeated criticism of the university for rejecting demands that it change key policies around admissions, hiring, and campus governance.
Trump, writing on his Truth Social platform, declared: “Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World's Great Universities or Colleges.” He added: “Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”
The president has expressed fury at Harvard’s refusal to comply with a list of proposed changes aimed at increasing federal oversight of academic institutions. These include banning race-based admissions, limiting foreign student intake, reforming hiring practices, and cracking down on campus protests. Trump argues that elite universities promote left-wing ideology and have become hostile to conservative values.
Other institutions, such as Columbia University, have yielded to less stringent demands. Columbia recently agreed to federal monitoring of its Middle Eastern studies programme after being threatened with the loss of $400 million in funding. The move followed campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza, which the White House claims gave rise to widespread anti-Semitism—one of the key justifications for its clampdown on higher education.
Harvard, by contrast, has taken a firm stand. University president Alan Garber said this week that the institution would not compromise on its principles, stating that Harvard refuses to “negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights.”
In response, Trump has ordered a freeze on $2.2 billion in federal research contracts awarded to Harvard. These contracts primarily support medical research programmes, where the university’s laboratories play a central role in the development of new treatments and therapies.
The administration’s campaign against elite universities mirrors broader efforts to challenge other major institutions, including prominent law firms and news organisations such as the Associated Press. Critics argue that Trump’s demands represent an attempt to impose political loyalty tests on centres of independent thought and research.
The row has drawn reactions well beyond the political arena. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, wearing a Harvard T-shirt after a recent basketball game, described the situation as the “dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I believe in academic freedom and I think it's crucial for all of our institutions to be able to handle their own business the way they want to, and they should not be shaken down and told what to teach and what to say by our government,” Kerr said.
With Trump pushing for unprecedented control over the country’s oldest and wealthiest university, the confrontation is rapidly becoming a wider struggle over the future independence of American academia.
In a letter sent to Harvard, the administration's demands included:
- Ending admissions that take into account the student's race or national origins
- Preventing admission of foreign students "hostile to the American values and institutions"
- Ending staff hiring based on race, religion, sex or national origin
- Reducing the power of students in campus governance
- Auditing students and staff for "viewpoint diversity"
- Reforming entire programs for "egregious records of anti-Semitism or other bias"
- Cracking down on campus protests
(Inputs from Agencies)
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