The Trump Administration has placed Harvard University under pressure, threatening to cut off federal funding granted by the White House. President Trump is using the federal funding cut as a mechanism to pressure the country’s academic institutions to comply with the political agenda of the current administration and to control university policies. Since returning to office in January, President Trump had long criticized Harvard and over 60 other universities for their handling of the pro-Palestinian student protests, accusing them of failing to adequately protect Jewish students from anti-Semitism and discrimination that emerged during the demonstrations, thereby violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

On 11 April 2025, the White House sent a letter to the university making a series of demands that must be met in order to maintain a positive relationship with the government, thus justifying the disbursement of federal funds. The demands include the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, to disclose the names of students who are “hostile to American values”, providing “meaningful discipline” for students who organized pro-Palestinian protests on school perimeters, and engaging a government-approved outside agency to conduct audits of programs and departments that contribute most to incidents of anti-Semitic harassment.

Faced with this list of demands, considered excessive, the prestigious university rejected them. In a letter from the university, the president of Harvard wrote, “No government – regardless of which party is in power – should dictate what private universities can teach.”

In response to the university’s refusal to accept such conditions, the White House froze federal funds totaling $2.2 billion and threatened to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status. President Trump wrote in a post on Truth, “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting Sickness?”

Former democratic U.S. president Barack Obama criticized the attempt of Trump to reshape American colleges by retaining political control of their teachings and academic staff. He praised the university’s commitment to defending its academic autonomy and fostering an environment based on “inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect.”

Before Harvard, in early March, Columbia University was forced to accept stringent conditions from the White House after a $400 million cut in federal funds for failing to fulfill their duty to protect Jewish students. However, after Harvard’s firm opposition to the White House’s demands, Columbia has reversed its position, declaring that it will not accept some of the measures imposed by the Trump Administration.

The pro-Palestinian student demonstrations had stirred strong divisions in public opinion, raising sensitive issues related to anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and freedom of expression. Tensions and public criticism had eventually forced the deans of Harvard and Pennsylvania to resign, accused of failing to take a clear stand against anti-Semitic slogans and for failing to ensure security.

Now, after the new migration policy has been implemented, campuses are constantly the target of operations by ICE agents, with many arrests of foreign students who now risk deportation. For example, on 15 April 2025, Mohsen Mahdawi, one of the students organizing the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, was arrested during his citizenship interview.

Thus, given the broader implications, the Trump Administration’s offensive against universities goes beyond mobilizing its voter base but represents a broader attack on the centres of liberal power in an attempt to reshape the country’s cultural identity according to the populist vision of the MAGA movement. With the goal of challenging opposing systems of thought, Trump has exploited an unprecedented government intrusion into academics, threatening to withdraw federal funding and attempting to politically orient universities to the real risk of stifling freedom of expression and undermining scientific research.