Trump Freezes $2bn in Harvard Funding After University Rejects Demands

The Trump administration has frozen more than $2 billion in federal funds for Harvard University after the institution rejected a sweeping set of demands from the White House. These demands, framed as efforts to combat antisemitism, sought to impose broad changes in admissions, teaching, hiring, and campus discipline.

The White House had asked Harvard to:

• Report students “hostile to American values” to federal authorities
• Ensure all departments have “viewpoint diversity”
• Conduct government-approved audits of departments deemed to “fuel antisemitism”
• Review faculty for plagiarism

President Donald Trump has accused elite universities of failing to protect Jewish students amid widespread campus protests over the Gaza war and US support for Israel. The administration has increasingly used the threat of defunding to reshape higher education.

Harvard President Alan Garber rejected the demands on Monday, saying they violate the university’s constitutional rights. “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” he said.

The Department of Education responded by announcing the immediate suspension of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts.

A statement from the department criticized Harvard’s “entitlement mindset” and defended the funding freeze as necessary to combat antisemitism and protect students.

Professor David Armitage, a Harvard historian, said the move was unsurprising and called it an attack on academic freedom. “It’s a vengeful act from an administration bent on silencing free speech,” he told the BBC.

Harvard, with its $53 billion endowment, is the first major university to reject Trump’s terms. Other institutions, like Columbia University, have agreed to some of the administration’s demands after facing similar funding cuts.

In March, the administration had already begun reviewing more than $256 million in contracts at Harvard and an additional $8.7 billion in long-term commitments.

Harvard faculty have filed a lawsuit against the government, arguing that the demands unlawfully infringe on free speech and academic independence.

Meanwhile, campus protests and immigration-related arrests continue to make headlines, including the detention of Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi during a citizenship interview, further fueling controversy around university autonomy and federal intervention.