WASHINGTON – In a renewed clash, President Donald Trump is now demanding a hefty $1 billion from Harvard University to settle their ongoing dispute, doubling his previous request. This escalation suggests that both parties are drifting further from a potential agreement.
On Monday night, Trump took to social media to amplify his stance, accusing Harvard of “behaving very badly.” He insists that any resolution must involve a direct payment to the government, a condition Harvard has resisted. Trump also declared that his administration seeks no future dealings with the university.
The president’s remarks on Truth Social were a retort to a New York Times article suggesting he had withdrawn his financial demands, potentially easing the path to a settlement. Trump, however, refuted claims of him relenting.
Officials from Harvard have yet to respond to these developments.
This latest outburst seems to solidify both sides’ positions in a standoff that Trump previously indicated was close to resolution.
Back in June, Trump had expressed optimism, suggesting a deal was imminent and praising Harvard’s conduct during talks. He mentioned that the agreement would direct $500 million towards establishing “a series of trade schools” instead of paying the government directly.
That deal appears to have fallen apart entirely. In his social media post, Trump said the trade school proposal had been turned down because it was “convoluted” and “wholly inadequate.”
Harvard has long been Trump’s top target in his administration’s campaign to bring the nation’s most prestigious universities to heel. His officials have cut billions of dollars in Harvard’s federal research funding and attempted to block it from enrolling foreign students after the campus rebuffed a series of government demands last April.
The White House has said it’s punishing Harvard for tolerating anti-Jewish bias on campus.
In a pair of lawsuits, Harvard said it’s being unfairly penalized for refusing to adopt the administration’s views. A federal judge agreed in December, reversing the funding cuts and calling the antisemitism argument a “smokescreen.”
Trump’s latest escalation comes as other parts of his higher education campaign are teetering.
Last fall, the White House invited nine universities to join a “compact” that offered funding priority in exchange for adopting Trump’s agenda. None of the schools accepted. In January, the administration abandoned its legal defense of an Education Department document threatening to cut schools’ funding over diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
When he took office for his second term, Trump made it a priority to go after elite universities that he said had been overrun by liberal thinking and anti-Jewish bias. His officials have frozen huge sums of research funding, which colleges have come to rely on for scientific and medical research.
Several universities have reached agreements with the White House to restore funding. Some deals have included direct payments to the government, including $200 million from Columbia University. Brown University agreed to pay $50 million toward state workforce development groups.
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