The US president wrote in Truth Social that he has “nothing more to do in the future” with the university.
US President Donald Trump has said his administration will seek $1 billion in damages from Harvard University.
The US president announced plans on social media late Monday to pull funding from Ivy League schools. The memo did not explain the exact nature of his complaint, further extending his already protracted legal battle with the university.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
“We are now seeking $1 billion in damages and we don’t want to do anything with Harvard again,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Harvard University, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has become the most prominent target of President Trump’s ire as he seeks to assert his authority over higher education.
He and his administration have railed against an ideology they call “woke socialist and anti-American” among students and professors, targeting pro-Palestinian protests and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, among other things.
The president’s latest rant, spread over several lengthy posts, appeared to be in response to a New York Times article published Monday that reported that the Trump administration had dropped its request for $200 million in payments from universities.
In September, a federal judge ruled that the government violated the law by canceling more than $2.2 billion worth of research grants to Harvard University. The White House is currently appealing the ruling, seeking payment as part of a broader agreement with the university.
The New York Times, citing four anonymous sources, reported that President Trump appears to have made a concession to the $200 million payment as negotiations with the university continue.
President Trump did not directly address the numbers in his recent post, but said that “the failed New York Times article was completely wrong about Harvard” and that Harvard was “feeding tons of ‘nonsense'” to the paper.
“This should be a criminal case, not a civil case, and Harvard University would have to accept the consequences of its misconduct,” he wrote. “In any case, this case will continue until justice is served.”
Trump also took issue with his declining approval ratings amid the economic downturn and with the article’s references to the killing of two Americans by federal agents during a violent immigration crackdown.
The paper said: “I was wrong about everything, my poll numbers are amazing!” he wrote.
President Trump’s campaign against America’s elite universities has become a hallmark of his second term.
Immediately after taking office, the president signed a variety of executive orders calling on government agencies to take steps to counter DEI programs at private institutions and step up actions to combat anti-Semitism, particularly on campuses.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has created a task force to “eradicate anti-Semitic harassment on school and college campuses,” with an initial list of 10 schools it says have failed to protect Jewish students.
As President Trump threatened to cut federal funding, several universities caved in to his demands.
Columbia University agreed to ban masks, allow campus police to arrest students, and create new administrators to oversee the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies and the Center for Palestine Studies.
Brown University announced it would pay $50 million to Rhode Island’s workforce training program to restore funding.
In October, the administration pushed nine universities to sign an agreement with various demands to gain “priority access” to federal funds. At least seven of the nine schools declined.
