Damages Claim Follows Talks And Media Report
US President Donald Trump said he will seek $1bn (£730m) in damages from Harvard University, escalating a dispute between his administration and the institution after talks over federal funding and a report that the White House had stepped back from a separate demand.
Trump announced the figure in a post on Truth Social late on Monday. He cited a New York Times report that said the administration had backed away from a $200m payment request during negotiations with the university, and he accused Harvard of “feeding a lot of nonsense” to the newspaper. “We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University,” he wrote.
Trump officials have accused Harvard of failing to do enough to address antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests. Harvard has rejected the accusation. The university has been a central focus of the White House campaign against what it describes as “woke” and “radical left” ideologies on US campuses.
Funding Cuts, Lawsuit, And Court Ruling
In April last year, the administration revoked about $2bn in research grants to Harvard and froze federal funding. The university sued, arguing that no government “should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
A US federal court later overturned the funding cuts, ruling that the government had violated the university’s free speech rights. The White House said it would immediately challenge what it called an “egregious decision” and added that Harvard remains “ineligible for grants in the future.”
Before Monday’s statement, the government had been in discussions with Harvard over a possible deal to unfreeze federal funding.
Allegations And Broader Pressure Campaign
In his post, Trump accused Harvard of “serious and heinous illegalities,” without setting out how he believes the university broke the law. He has previously threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status and to take control of the university’s patents that stem from federally funded research.
Three other Ivy League universities, Columbia, Penn, and Brown, reached agreements with the administration to protect funding that was at risk due to similar claims, rather than pursue court cases.
Featured image credits: Pexels
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