The escalating tensions between the Trump administration and Harvard University appear to be intensifying, with reports indicating a planned reduction of over one billion dollars in federal funding allocated to the prestigious institution. According to sources familiar with the situation, detailed by *The Wall Street Journal* on Sunday, this significant withdrawal is primarily linked to Harvard’s substantial investment in health research initiatives.
This latest development follows a series of increasingly assertive actions taken by the White House. Just days prior, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was directed to explore revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status, citing concerns regarding the university’s handling of antisemitism allegations on campus. Furthermore, the Justice Department initiated a “comprehensive review” of Harvard’s federal contracts and government grants, culminating in last week’s decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to rescind $2.7 million in DHS funding earmarked for the school.
President Trump has publicly voiced his dissatisfaction with Harvard, characterizing it as “having lost its way” and deeming it undeserving of federal resources. His statement, disseminated through social media, included pointed criticisms: “Harvard has been hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’ who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called ‘future leaders.’ Look just to the recent past at their plagiarizing President, who so greatly embarrassed Harvard before the United States Congress. Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”
Reactions amongst Harvard students have been sharply divided. Carter Stewart, a classics major and Republican campus member, expressed support for the administration’s actions: “In my personal opinion, it’s that Harvard kind of deserves everything that’s happened, everything that is coming to it. I think Harvard is faced with a choice, and it seems like they’re making the wrong choice, which is to double down on these crazy ideas that most Americans don’t agree with and to pay the price for that. So, I think it’s a good thing that Harvard’s being forced to put its money where its mouth is.”
Conversely, Ryan Enos, a professor of government at Harvard, defended the university’s stance: “You shouldn’t have the government coming in and telling a private institution what it can do in its internal affairs like that. People have a right to protest whatever they want. I think we need to be really careful not to conflate those two things, because otherwise we have a danger of doing things like shutting down free speech.”
Attempts to obtain comment from the White House and Harvard yielded no immediate responses at the time of publication. Kaylee Holland and Albas Cubas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report for Fox News Digital.
