“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. What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
His remarks come amid an intensifying standoff between Trump and the Ivy League institution. Just last week, the Trump administration attempted to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students.
In recent weeks, Trump has moved to freeze approximately $3 billion in federal grants awarded to Harvard—prompting the university to file a lawsuit seeking to restore the funding. The majority of those funds come through Congressional appropriations to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and are typically used to support biomedical research, a field not usually associated with trade schools.
Harvard has not yet responded to requests for comment. The White House has also not clarified which specific grants Trump is targeting for reallocation.
In a separate Truth Social post, Trump accused Harvard of withholding information: “We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” he wrote. “Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!” He also criticized the university’s legal strategy, saying, “The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) – But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!” Last Friday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, calling the policy a form of retaliation against the university’s resistance to political pressure.
The ruling offered temporary relief to over 7,000 international students who faced the risk of being forced to leave the U.S. or transfer to another school. Harvard had called the policy a “blatant violation” of the U.S. Constitution and federal law, warning that the move would have an “immediate and devastating effect” on both the institution and its international student body.
International students make up roughly 27% of Harvard’s total enrollment, with nearly 6,800 enrolled during the current academic year.
This latest clash is part of a broader campaign by Trump to pressure elite institutions—including universities, media organizations, and law firms—into aligning with his political agenda. The former president and many Republicans have long accused top-tier schools of harboring liberal bias.
In addition to freezing federal grants, Trump has recently floated proposals to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status, increase taxes on its endowment, and launch a civil rights investigation into the university.
