Inside Trump’s Pressure Campaign on Universities

X.com ^ | April 14, 2025 | Updated 2:54 p.m. ET | Michael C. Bender, Alan Blinder and Jonathan Swan

[E. Pluribus Unum]

As he finished lunch in the private dining room outside the Oval Office on April 1, President Trump floated an astounding proposal: What if the government simply canceled every dollar of the nearly $9 billion promised to Harvard University?

The administration’s campaign to expunge “woke” ideology from college campuses had already forced Columbia University to strike a deal. Now, the White House was eyeing the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university.

“What if we never pay them?” Mr. Trump casually asked, according to a person familiar with the conversation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussion. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

The moment underscored the aggressive, ad hoc approach continuing to shape one of the new administration’s most consequential policies.

Mr. Trump and his top aides are exerting control of huge sums of federal research money to shift the ideological tilt of the higher education system, which they see as hostile to conservatives and intent on perpetuating liberalism.

Their effort was energized by the campus protests against Israel’s response to the October 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas, demonstrations during which Jewish students were sometimes harassed. Soon after taking office, Mr. Trump opened the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, which is scrutinizing leading universities for potential civil rights violations and serving as an entry point to pressure schools to reassess their policies.

It is backed by the influence of Stephen Miller, who is Mr. Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and the architect of much of the president’s domestic agenda.

The opaque process is upending campuses nationwide, leaving elite institutions, long accustomed to operating with relative freedom from Washington, reeling from a blunt-force political attack that is at the leading edge of a bigger cultural battle.

The task force includes about 20 administration officials, most of whom the government has not publicly...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The CCP/Confucius Institute ain't gonna like this.

[dp0622]

Jewish students were sometimes harassed

That’s like saying Hiroshima was somewhat bombed.

But the need to downplay the harassment is paramount to the left.

[one guy in new jersey]

“...according to a person familiar with the conversation...”

The enemy is everywhere.

Ben Franklin’s operation when functioning as an emissary to France was infested with spies (whom he played like so many Stradivarii).

[doc maverick]

US taxpayers should not have to give ANY $$$$ to these “rich people” schools.
They have plenty already and they are not public universities.
Not to mention, they are full of radical leftists.
F’ them. Let their rich graduates support them.

[one guy in new jersey]

Probably most of it is funding for useless “science”.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

I'd rather see that money go to "historically black" universities to boost their science, engineering, and math programs—on the condition that they cut out all the DEI.

Harvard has $50 billion dollars in endowments. They don't need our money. Why give money to people who hate us.

[doc maverick]

That’s not a bad idea…..

[Albion Wilde]

Mr. Trump and his top aides are exerting control of huge sums of federal research money to shift the ideological tilt of the higher education system, which they see as hostile to conservatives and intent on perpetuating liberalism marxism.

Fixed it.

[_longranger81]

Interesting they talk about the Administration’s “opaque process”, when the reason for this kerfuffle is that Hah-vuhd refuses to let the people of this country know what it is that they are doing with our 9 billion dollars.

How f’in stoopid do these people think we are?

[Tall Wall Texan]

Harvard’s endowment is now over $53 billion at the end of 2024.
Last year they earned almost 10% on their investments, and after distributing some of the cash, they had over 3000 million dollars more in their endowment fund than they had in 2023. They don’t need federal support.

[Ford4000]

The higher-ed industry wants to keep the public in the dark about the value of their degrees, too. Been fighting against transparency for a long time.