Barack Obama hits out at Donald Trump after he paused $2,300,000,000 in Harvard funding

Barack Obama has issued a statement after Donald Trump paused funding to Harvard University.

Donald Trump has cancelled funding to Harvard. Credit: Andrew Harnik / Getty

Harvard University made headlines recently for flat-out rejecting a list of intense demands from the Trump administration.

In response, the Department of Education promptly froze a staggering $2.3 billion in federal funding — $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts, per the Guardian.

So, what exactly was the government demanding?

In a fiery letter, the Trump administration laid out a sweeping list of changes it wanted Harvard to adopt.

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That included banning face masks — a move widely seen as targeting pro-Palestinian protesters on campus — conducting audits on the university’s views on diversity, and forcing reforms around “merit-based” admissions and hiring.

But that wasn’t all.

Harvard has had its funding canceled. Credit: Bill Ross / Getty

The administration also pushed for the school to “immediately shutter all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices, committees, positions, and initiatives, under whatever name, and stop all DEI-based policies,” and to “make organizational changes to ensure full transparency and cooperation with all federal regulators.”

It didn’t stop there. Harvard was also urged to stop recognizing or funding “any student group or club that endorses or promotes criminal activity, illegal violence, or illegal harassment,” and to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, as reported by BBC News.

Harvard’s response was to take a strong stance.

“No government – regardless of which party is in power – should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Harvard president Alan Garber wrote in a letter.

Harvard has not backed down on their stance. Credit: Richard T. Nowitz / Getty

Garber doubled down, calling the demands a political move.

“It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” he wrote. “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”

Harvard emphasized that while it is committed to fighting antisemitism, it won’t do so through “assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate.”

That pushback prompted a harsh rebuttal from the White House.

A task force on combating antisemitism from the Education Department said: “Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.”

Obama quickly jumped in to publicly back Harvard, tweeting: “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”

Obama has hit out at Trump. Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty

Over the weekend, protesters — both from the Harvard community and the surrounding Cambridge area — rallied in support of the university’s stance.

And Harvard’s not just fighting this in the court of public opinion.

The American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit on Friday, arguing that the administration didn’t follow the proper steps under Title VI before cutting funds and failed to notify both the school and Congress.