Trump says Harvard a ‘joke’ undeserving of US federal funding

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump doubled down on April 16 on a funding stand-off with top university Harvard that has become a focal point of his war against elite educational institutions.

Harvard has stood out for defying Mr Trump’s attempts to force it to submit to wide-ranging government oversight, in contrast to

several other universities

that have folded under intense pressure from the White House.

“Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”

On April 15, Mr Trump threatened to

strip the university of its tax-exempt status

as a non-profit educational institution, after earlier freezing US$2.2 billion (S$2.9 billion) in federal funding.

Mr Trump has demanded that the university change the way it runs itself, including how it selects students and its hiring practices, and that it submit itself to “audits” of academic programmes and departments.

On April 15, Harvard president Alan Garber said the school would not “negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights”.

The US president and his administration have justified their pressure campaign on universities as a reaction to what they say is uncontrolled anti-Semitism and support for the Palestinian armed group Hamas.

The anti-Semitism allegations are based on

protests against Israel’s war in Gaza

that swept across campuses in 2024.

The White House has also strong-armed dozens of universities and colleges with threats to remove federal funding over their policies meant to encourage racial diversity among students and staff. AFP