Trump means business.
President Donald Trump said late Monday that his administration is demanding $1 billion from Harvard University to resolve ongoing federal investigations, directly disputing media reports claiming the White House had softened its position toward the elite Ivy League institution.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump sharply criticized Harvard’s leadership and accused the university of misleading the press.
“Strongly antisemitic Harvard University has been feeding nonsense to the failing New York Times,” Trump wrote. “Harvard has been behaving very badly for a long time.”
The dispute centers on the federal government’s response to antisemitic and anti-Israel activity on college campuses, which intensified following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The Department of Education has warned that universities failing to protect Jewish students or enforce civil rights laws could lose access to billions in taxpayer-funded grants.
Harvard, along with several other high-profile universities, has been under federal scrutiny as the administration reviews whether campus leadership adequately addressed harassment, intimidation, and discriminatory conduct.
Trump Pushes for Major Financial Accountability
Earlier this year, Trump said Harvard was seeking a settlement, shortly after Columbia University agreed to pay more than $220 million to resolve federal civil rights allegations. The president made clear at the time that Harvard would not receive a similar deal.
During a Cabinet meeting one month later, Trump publicly instructed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take a hard line.
“Don’t negotiate,” Trump said. “Nothing less than $500 million. They’ve been very bad.”
By late September 2025, the administration revealed that Harvard had proposed a plan to spend approximately $500 million on trade schools and job training programs in exchange for the release of about $2.4 billion in frozen federal grants. That proposal, however, was ultimately rejected.
White House Rejects Harvard Proposal
In his Monday night statement, Trump said the trade school proposal was inadequate and designed to avoid a direct financial penalty.
“They tried a convoluted job training scheme that wouldn’t work,” Trump wrote. “It was simply a way to escape a massive cash settlement. Given the seriousness of what they’ve done, the number should be much higher.”
The president went further, arguing that the situation should involve criminal accountability.
“This should be a criminal, not civil, matter,” Trump said. “Harvard will have to live with the consequences of its actions. We are now seeking one billion dollars in damages and want nothing further to do with Harvard University going forward.”
Harvard Fights Back in Court
Harvard did not immediately respond to the president’s remarks.
Despite holding an endowment valued at nearly $57 billion, Harvard has chosen to challenge the administration’s funding freeze in federal court while still engaging in limited settlement discussions.
In September, a Boston-based federal judge ruled that the administration had improperly retaliated against Harvard for refusing to comply with government demands. However, the court also acknowledged that the university was “plagued by antisemitism,” a point the administration has repeatedly emphasized.
The judge noted that the funding cuts were explicitly linked to Harvard’s decision to fight the government’s actions, stating that the university’s legal challenge was protected under the First Amendment.
Case Continues as Pressure Mounts
The legal battle remains ongoing, with the Trump administration signaling it will not back down. Officials say the case is about enforcing civil rights laws, protecting Jewish students, and ensuring elite institutions are held accountable for their actions — regardless of wealth or political influence.
For now, the standoff between the White House and one of America’s most powerful universities shows no signs of ending.
