President Donald Trump escalated his war on Harvard over the weekend—this time by threatening to strip billions in federal research funding and give it to trade schools instead.
“I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land. What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
This is just the latest volley in Trump’s growing feud with the nation’s wealthiest university. The battle kicked off in April, when Harvard refused to comply with the Trump administration’s attempt to strong-arm changes to the school’s admissions, disciplinary, and governance policies. Days later, the White House froze $2.3 billion in federal research grants.
Then came another blow: Trump vowed to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
“It’s what they deserve!” he fumed.
A cartoon by Tim Campbell.
Now Trump’s considering redistributing the funding yanked from Harvard and its research partners to trade schools, though the proposal is vague, lacks legal grounding, and reads more like a vendetta than a policy initiative.
But this isn’t about future allocations. Instead, Trump appears to be targeting existing research funding that’s already earmarked for scientific work, not university perks. The T.H. Chan School of Public Health has been one of the hardest hit, with research on tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, and other public health crises stalled midstream.
While trade schools are certainly important, they’re not the ones uncovering the root causes of neurological diseases.
Harvard President Alan Garber put it plainly during an interview with NPR on Tuesday.
“The money that goes to research universities in the form of grants and contracts, which is almost all of the federal support that we get, is used to pay for work that we perform at the behest of the government,” he said. “So in reallocating to some other use, including trade schools, it means that work just won’t be performed. So, the right question is, is this the most effective use of federal funding?”
Harvard isn’t just speaking out; it’s suing the Trump administration for the funding freeze and the attempt to block foreign students from returning to campus, which was also recently rebuffed by a federal judge. Those students make up roughly 27% of Harvard’s enrollment.
But on Monday, Trump doubled down, demanding Harvard hand over “foreign student lists” so his administration can decide how many “radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country.”
“Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!” he added.
This is not serious policymaking but a prolonged PR campaign to cast Harvard as a hotbed of leftist extremism and antisemitism. In truth, Trump is furious that the university won’t bend to his will, and he’s lashing out with the only weapon he has: federal funding.
And he’s not stopping there.
According to The New York Times, the Trump administration now plans to sever all remaining ties with Harvard, and it’s pressing federal agencies to do the same.
People walk around campus at Harvard University.
In a letter expected to be sent Tuesday, Josh Gruenbaum, federal acquisition service commissioner, instructed government agencies to identify and cancel contracts with Harvard. He accused the university of “race discrimination” and showing “a disturbing lack of concern for the safety and well-being of Jewish students.”
“We recommend that your agency terminate for convenience each contract that it determines has failed to meet its standards. And transition to a new vendor those contracts that could be better serviced by an alternative counterparty. Going forward, we also encourage your agency to seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered Harvard,” Gruenbaum wrote.
It’s a sweeping attempt to isolate Harvard—not just by freezing research grants but now by trying to cut off every remaining federal partnership and contract. The message is clear: comply or be erased.
This isn’t new. Trump has spent years trying to force institutions—courts, law firms, media outlets, universities—to align with his agenda. But elite universities in particular have been in the GOP’s crosshairs for years, accused of liberal bias and ideological gatekeeping.
There’s also a political calculation here. Trump polls strongest with voters who don’t hold four-year degrees, so taking a shot at Harvard while hyping trade schools will strengthen his base.
And with enrollment in trade schools climbing—partly because four-year colleges are too expensive and about to get pricier thanks to Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that just passed the House—there’s a clear political strategy in pitting the working class against Ivy League elites.
So once again, Harvard is collateral damage in Trump’s campaign to rile up his base. And it won’t be the last shot he takes.
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