Trump says billions in federal funds stripped from Harvard should go to trade schools

President Donald Trump said Monday that he was considering taking away three billion dollars of federal grants from Harvard and giving them to trade schools across the country instead. This comes after the Trump administration has stripped billions in grants and stopped the school from being able to enroll international students, which was paused by a judge.

"I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land," Trump wrote. "What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!"

The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in grants in April, coming after the school refused to comply with the administration’s demands for reform on the famed campus. The Joint Task Force to combat antisemitism said, "The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support."

The following month, the Joint Task Force announced that it would be stripping an additional $450 million in federal grants. "Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus,” the task force said in a statement.

In addition to funds being stripped, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday that it had revoked the school’s ability to enroll international students, which represents just under one-third of the school’s student body.

"Harvard’s leadership has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment. Many of these agitators are foreign students," read a notice from DHS. "Harvard’s leadership further facilitated, and engaged in coordinated activity with the CCP, including hosting and training members of a CCP paramilitary group complicit in the Uyghur genocide."

That action, however, was halted by a judge on Friday. A restraining order blocking the Trump administration from ending the school’s ability to enroll international students was granted, and will remain in place for around two weeks. Hearings are scheduled for May 27 and 29.

In the wake of the ruling, Trump said he wanted to know the "names and countries" of those international students enrolled at the school, writing, "Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that. We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!"