Trump demands $1 billion from Harvard as a prolonged standoff appears to deepen

Key Highlights

• 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.'Bring her home': Savannah Guthrie addresses her mother missing in possible abductionFeb 2, 10:51 PM1,000 samples sent for testing after possible biological lab found inside home: FBIFeb 2, 7:26 PMMinneapolis live updates: ICE arrest powers expanded, memo saysJan 31, 5:23 PMIn 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.