The Trump administration is escalating its campaign against Harvard University — and looking for new ways to bring the storied institution to heel.
The White House convened officials from nearly a dozen agencies on Wednesday to brainstorm additional punitive measures, according to one administration official and a second person familiar with the meeting, who were granted anonymity to share details.
The push comes as the White House regroups after a federal judge blocked its move to bar Harvard from enrolling international students, and underscores how President Donad Trump has grown increasingly invested in the battle.
“The latest moves against Harvard are truly just scratching the surface,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields, without specifying what else the administration has to bring Harvard to heel.
The relentless focus has some inside the administration worrying that the longer the fight the greater the risk that the White House overplays its hand.
In an effort to bring the illustrious university to heel, the Trump administration is intensifying its campaign against Harvard University.
According to two administration officials who were given anonymity to discuss the meeting, the White House met Wednesday with representatives from almost a dozen agencies to discuss potential further punitive measures. According to the administration official, the State, Treasury, Justice, and Health and Human Services departments, among others, are anticipated to take immediate action, which could begin as early as next month.
The push highlights how President Donald Trump has become more involved in the fight as the White House reorganizes after a federal judge blocked its attempt to prohibit Harvard from accepting international students.
Trump has continued to attack Harvard, threatening in a post last week to revoke its tax-exempt status and reprimanding the university again Wednesday during an unrelated press conference, despite some administration officials privately complaining that the aggressive stance is helping Harvard gain public sympathy.
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters, “Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper and deeper.”.
But two administration officials and another person familiar with the discussions, who like others in the story were given anonymity to discuss details of private conversations, said the administration knows it will need to get more inventive to keep squeezing the school given the low-hanging policy options already in place.
The administration would not comment on its considerations, but some possibilities include reducing funding to Harvard-affiliated medical schools or asking the Department of Justice to broaden its probe into the university’s admissions practices.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields stated, “The latest actions against Harvard are really just scratching the surface,” without mentioning what more the administration has in store to hold Harvard accountable. In contrast to many of their competitors, Harvard chose to litigate this on MSNBC, the now-defunded NPR, and the ratings-disastrous CNN rather than acting like adults and having productive discussions and taking constructive action that would have prevented them from committing suicide. “”.
Harvard did not respond to a request for comment.
Some within the administration are concerned that the longer the battle, the more likely it is that the White House will overplay its hand due to the unrelenting focus.
One of the administration officials acknowledged that the university has the narrative advantage in the attempt to cancel Harvard’s student visas, saying, “We’re fighting a losing battle.”. We have chosen to target one of the most heinous organizations. “”.
The battle takes place as part of the Trump administration’s larger initiatives to transform not only the American government but also the institutions that have long surrounded it. As part of a larger campaign against cultural institutions it perceives as being out of step with the administration, like the Kennedy Center and Big Law firms, the White House has targeted a number of other prominent universities in addition to Harvard, including other Ivy League schools and the University of California system.
An April 11 letter full of demands was accidentally sent to Harvard at a time when a deal to avoid confrontation was a real possibility, intensifying the already simmering conflict between the Trump administration and the Ivy League university that had been simmering since February.
It looked like a deal might be reached until that letter arrived. However, communication broke down after it was sent.
In the six weeks since the letter was sent in error, the administration has frozen $2.02 billion in multiyear research grants and terminated an additional $60 million in contracts; canceled 500 National Institutes of Health grants for Harvard-affiliated institutions; prohibited the university from receiving any more grants; and launched several investigations into Harvard’s practices by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the departments of Justice, Health, Education, and Homeland Security.
In retaliation, Harvard sued the administration, and on Thursday, a federal judge in Massachusetts stopped the administration’s attempt to bar foreign students. While both parties discuss a possible injunction that would maintain the status quo while the case proceeds, that block will stay in place.
According to one person with knowledge of the discussions, the university could have found a way to move on even though the letter dated April 11 did exacerbate tensions. According to the source, it has instead stopped attempting to curry favor with the administration and declined to engage in any kind of communication with the White House as it seeks to prevail in the court of public opinion.
“They believe that their audience consists of the faculty, students, funders, and alumni,” the individual stated. However, they are completely not collaborating with another audience. That’s just not smart in the long run, in my opinion. “.”.
