President Donald Trump escalated his administration's confrontation with Harvard University on Tuesday, threatening to revoke the institution's tax-exempt status following its refusal to implement sweeping federal demands tied to campus protests and governance reforms. The warning came hours after the Department of Education announced the immediate freeze of $2.2 billion in research grants and $60 million in contracts to the Ivy League university.
"Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting 'Sickness?'" Trump posted on Truth Social. "Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!"
The dispute began after Harvard declined to accept a list of policy mandates sent by the Trump administration last week, which included directives to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, conduct department-wide audits, report students deemed "hostile" to American values, and hire an external government-approved oversight body.
In rejecting the proposals, Harvard President Alan Garber said: "The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights." He added, "Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the 'intellectual conditions' at Harvard."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later reinforced the administration's position, stating: "[Trump] wants to see Harvard apologize, and Harvard should apologize."
The funding freeze follows an ongoing federal review of $9 billion in multi-year commitments to Harvard, part of a broader campaign by the administration targeting elite universities over their response to antisemitism and political protests related to the war in Gaza. The Education Department said Tuesday that "Harvard's statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation's most prestigious universities and colleges."
Harvard's $53 billion endowment has not shielded it from the impact of the administration's moves. Earlier this year, the university announced a hiring freeze in response to "rapidly shifting federal policies." Harvard Medical School, one of the primary beneficiaries of federal research support, cited breakthroughs in cancer therapy, gene editing, and autoimmune disease treatments that now risk stalling.
"It's not just that things have been stopped cold, which a lot of it has," political science professor Ryan Enos said. "One day, they're doing research and then the next day they can't. It's also the fact that they can't plan."
Supporters of the administration argue the funding freeze is warranted. "What the federal government is doing is saying, 'You have a track record of discrimination, you have a track record of violating the civil rights of your own students, and we're not going to fund this,'" said Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard graduate and Trump campaign surrogate. "Harvard is trying to, you know, have its cake and eat it too."
David Armitage, a Harvard history professor, responded to the administration's actions by stating: "It's a not unexpected act of entirely groundless and vengeful activity by the Trump administration which wants nothing more than to silence freedom of speech."
The standoff comes as polling shows public trust in higher education is declining, particularly among conservatives. A Gallup survey last year indicated confidence in universities has eroded across the political spectrum, driven in part by perceptions that institutions are advancing ideological agendas.
Trump's administration has already pulled $400 million in funding from Columbia University, which subsequently agreed to several federal conditions. Columbia, Tufts, and other campuses have seen student organizers arrested or detained in recent weeks, including Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts' Rumeysa Ozturk, amid escalating scrutiny over pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
"I think so many of us want to work at a place and be part of a community that stands up for its principles, right?" Enos said. "If you don't have that, you don't have anything."
