Trump wrote in a late-night social media submit that the federal authorities additionally desires “nothing additional to do, into the longer term, with Harvard College.”
Alex Wroblewski/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
President Donald Trump has demanded Harvard College pay the federal authorities $1 billion, escalating a excessive profile, nearly year-long battle over alleged campus antisemitism.
The demand, posted on Fact Social late Monday night time, comes as Harvard is locked in negotiations with the Trump administration and landed simply six hours after The New York Occasions reported that the federal authorities had backed off calls for for a monetary penalty. The Trump administration had reportedly sought as much as $200 million from Harvard, which has resisted settling with the federal authorities as some Ivy league friends and different establishments have achieved. Whereas others reached agreements, Harvard took Trump to courtroom and received, thus far warding off efforts to strip its federal analysis funding and limit its potential to host worldwide college students, amongst different assaults.
Late Monday, Trump disputed the reporting by The New York Occasions.
“Strongly Antisemitic Harvard College has been feeding quite a lot of “nonsense” to The Failing New York Occasions. Harvard has been, for a very long time, behaving very badly!,” Trump wrote on-line.
The president claimed that Harvard “needed to do a convoluted job coaching idea” in lieu of a financial settlement however that proposal “was turned down” and “wholly insufficient.” He added a monetary penalty was wanted attributable to “critical and heinous illegalities that they’ve dedicated.”
Now, Trump has upped the ante on a possible settlement deal.
“We are actually searching for One Billion {Dollars} in damages, and need nothing additional to do, into the longer term, with Harvard College,” Trump wrote within the first of two posts disputing the protection. (Trump demanded The New York Occasions change its reporting in a second submit on Fact Social.)
The New York Occasions has reported since July that a settlement with Harvard was imminent, a declare that officers corresponding to Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon have echoed in public for months. However Trump’s newest billion-dollar demand suggests any such deal stays out of attain.
Preliminary protection indicated that Harvard was keen to pay as much as $500 million to reset its relationship with the federal authorities, particularly directing these funds towards workforce packages. The Trump administration has reached settlements with six different establishments: the College of Pennsylvania, Columbia College, Brown College, the College of Virginia, Cornell College, and Northwestern College. Amongst universities that settled, Brown struck a deal to steer $50 million to workforce growth packages in Rhode Island, the place it’s positioned. In a associated settlement, Cornell agreed to take a position $30 million in agricultural analysis.
Trump additionally took intention at Harvard President Alan Garber in Monday’s late-night-posting spree.
“Dr. Alan Garber, the President of Harvard, has achieved a horrible job of rectifying a really dangerous state of affairs for his establishment and, extra importantly, America, itself. He was employed AFTER the antisemitism expenses have been introduced – I ponder why???,” Trump wrote on social media.
Garber took over in an interim capability in early 2024 after then-president Claudine Homosexual stepped down amid a public relations firestorm pushed by each a damaging efficiency at a Congressional listening to on campus antisemitism and swirling plagiarism allegations. Harvard lifted Garber’s interim tag in August 2024 and prolonged his time period of service late final yr.
Harvard didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark early Tuesday morning.
