President Donald Trump’s administration is slashing another $450 million in federal grants to Harvard University, just one day after the Ivy League giant pushed back against growing accusations from government officials that it promotes liberal bias and antisemitism.
In a letter sent Tuesday, a joint federal task force charged with fighting antisemitism informed Harvard that eight federal agencies are terminating grants to Harvard in addition to the $2.2 billion the administration has already frozen.
The message? Toe the line—or pay the price.
Signed by representatives from the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration, the letter accuses Harvard of repeatedly failing “to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus” and warns that the university faces a “steep, uphill battle” to reclaim its reputation for academic excellence.
“Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination,” the letter reads. “This is not leadership; it is cowardice. And it’s not academic freedom; it’s institutional disenfranchisement.”
Related | Why conservatives hate college
It continues: “There is a dark problem on Harvard’s campus, and by prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”
The $450 million in question is spread across grants from eight unnamed federal agencies. While the letter doesn’t specify which ones, the move is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to exert ideological control over America’s universities, starting with the nation’s wealthiest and most prominent.
Harvard has yet to respond publicly to the latest declaration from the White House, but the administration’s pressure campaign has clearly entered a new phase.
The Trump administration has demanded that Harvard ban pro-Palestinian activism.
Tensions escalated after Harvard became the first U.S. university to openly defy White House demands to clamp down on pro-Palestinian activism on campus and dismantle its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. University officials said the demands were not only extreme but a direct assault on its autonomy.
Trump responded by calling for Harvard to lose its tax-exempt status. The Department of Homeland Security has even threatened to revoke the school’s eligibility to host international students.
Last week, the Department of Education announced that Harvard won’t see another dime in new federal grants until it complies with a sweeping list of demands—including bans on masks, eliminating DEI in admissions and hiring, and implementing ideological vetting for foreign students.
These demands aren’t limited to Harvard. The Trump administration is applying similar pressure on other universities like Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, in some cases cutting off federal funding entirely until institutions fall in line.
Harvard has already sued the federal government over the earlier $2 billion freeze and university president Alan Garber has publicly rejected the administration’s claims, particularly the accusations of antisemitism. Garber defended Harvard as a nonpartisan institution that has taken “real, tangible steps” to address hate on campus, while calling the federal actions “an unlawful attempt to control fundamental aspects of our university’s operations.”
“Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government,” he wrote.
Trump and his goons, however, appear undeterred. Their strategy is clear: bleed Harvard dry until it capitulates. Whether it’s through lawsuits, funding cuts, or threats of extinction, this is how Trump governs—by punishing dissent and daring anyone to resist.
And now, he and his minions are pushing hard to get Harvard to blink.
Campaign Action
