Overview
- In a late-night Truth Social post, President Trump said his administration is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard and rejected a New York Times report that officials had dropped a $200 million cash demand.
- Trump labeled Harvard “strongly antisemitic,” suggested the matter should be criminal rather than civil, and criticized university president Alan Garber by name.
- Harvard has resisted paying the government and pursued a non-cash settlement centered on a workforce development plan of up to $500 million, which Trump said the administration deemed inadequate.
- Harvard previously won a federal court ruling restoring more than $2 billion in frozen research funds, and the government has appealed as the Department of Education says negotiations remain ongoing.
- Peer institutions have cut deals with the administration, including Columbia’s roughly $200 million payment to the U.S. Treasury, Brown’s $50 million workforce grants, and Cornell’s $30 million agreement.