Harvard confronts Mr. Trump, has billions of dollars in aid cut, and is stripped of the right to recruit international students?

"Harvard is no longer considered a great place to study and should not be considered one of the greatest universities in the world," US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on April 16.

"Harvard is a joke, teaching nothing but hate and stupidity. They should no longer receive federal funding," the US President continued.

This is Mr. Trump's latest comment on the recent escalation of tensions between the administration and Harvard University regarding allegations of anti-Semitism.

The Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism (JTFCAS) of the US Department of Education has recommended that Harvard carry out a series of reforms such as preventing student protests, adjusting the governance and leadership structure, reforming the admissions process, and ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

However, Harvard President Alan Garber said these requests were an unprecedented government intervention into an academic institution, inconsistent with free speech and a violation of the Civil Rights Act.

“The government, regardless of which party is in power, should not dictate what content universities should teach, how they can recruit and recruit students and faculty, or what academic areas they should pursue,” Garber wrote in a letter responding to JTFCAS’ request.

The White House immediately announced a freeze of $2.2 billion in federal funding for the university. On April 15, Mr. Trump also threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status as a nonprofit educational institution.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on April 15 that President Trump wants an apology from Harvard after the university refused to address the issue of "anti-Semitism."

In addition, US Secretary of Homeland Security - Ms. Kristi Noem - also announced the termination of two grants from this department to Harvard University, totaling about 2.7 million USD.

In a letter to Harvard, Ms. Noem asked the school to provide records related to the alleged "illegal and violent" activities of some foreign students studying at Harvard University, the deadline to provide information is April 30.

"If Harvard fails to demonstrate that it is fully complying with its reporting obligations to regulators, the school will lose its right to enroll international students," Noem said.

A Harvard University spokesperson confirmed receipt of Noem's letter and said the school "will not give up its right to make independent decisions" and remains committed to complying with US law.

Harvard is a leader in advanced medical, scientific, and technological research and relies heavily on federal funding, with a total of about $8.7 billion in funding. In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. government provided Harvard with about $686 million. Losing this funding could halt research or prevent new projects from starting.

It is known that not only Harvard, the conflict between other universities and the US government is also escalating, raising concerns about freedom of speech and academic freedom when Mr. Trump chose to freeze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for universities, pressuring schools to change policies.

President Trump's actions targeting the country's top universities are not simply an issue that excites his core constituency.

The administration's pressure on top universities is part of a broader effort to challenge what it sees as centers of liberal power, including the courts, the federal bureaucracy and the media, according to the New York Times.

After remaking the Republican Party and the Supreme Court, Mr. Trump hopes to extend his populist ideology to higher education as a way to challenge belief systems that clash with his MAGA (Make America Great Again) slogan and shift the country to the right.

President Trump has not only confronted leading scholars. His immigration crackdown has stirred a culture of fear on college campuses: Some students have been taken off the streets by border agents, while hundreds of others have had their visas revoked on the grounds that their views are harmful to U.S. foreign policy interests.

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