After Colombia crackdown, Donald Trump threatens Harvard with $9 billion grant loss over alleged ‘antisemitism’. Details

Following its crackdown on Colombia University for similar reasons, Donald Trump's government has now warned fellow Ivy League institution, Harvard University, of $9 billion in grants loss for alleged “antisemitism” on campus, according to a Reuters report.

The United States Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and the US General Services Administration in a written statement on March 31, said that they were reviewing at least $255.6 million worth contracts between Harvard and its affiliates; besides $8.7 billion worth of multi-year grant committments, the report added.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said, “Harvard's failure to protect students on campus from antisemitic discrimination — all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry — has put its reputation in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus.”

Donald Trump Alleges Antisemitism on Campus

The total grants and contracts at stake are worth $9 billion, with the Trump administration's reason for the pressure being action against alleged antisemitism on the Harvard campus.

The report noted that this comes as the Trump administration seeks to pressure the policies of American universities, and supporters are cheering the “long-needed” check on what they call “far-left extremism” on US college campuses. Meanwhile, critics have raised the alarm over draconian over-reach that impact the right to speech and academic freedoms, the report said.

In a written statement, Harvard President Alan Garber said that “if this funding is stopped, it will halt life-saving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation.”

He did add that antisemitism is “present on our campus” and that he himself has experienced it, and the university is enacting reforms but still has “much work to do”. Garber also said that Harvard will work with the government's antisemitism task force on addressing the matter.

Culture War: Donald Trump Cracks Down on American Universities, Immigrant Students

Notably, in March, the federal government took similar steps with Columbia University, cancelling $400 million in funding, as students there spearheaded pro-Palestine protests that caught on across US campuses in 2023 and 2024.

Protesters, including Jewish students, said their actions were aimed against Israel's attacks on Gaza and Palestinians, and not antisemitism, and that the administration is conflating it with sympathy for Hamas.

Columbia gave into the pressure and announced some changes to negotiate cutbacks by the Trump administration, but the interim president stepped down last weekend as students and faculty raised the alarm over bowing to federal demands.

Also in earlier in March, the Univeristy of Pennsylvania was notified of a $175 million funding cut over its transgender sports policies.

Through March, the US Department of Education has sent out letters to 60 universities, warning of “enforcement actions” if alleged “antisemitism eruptions” continue on campuses, the report added.

Besides the pressure on institutions themselves, the federal government's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, known as ICE agents, have picked up and detained immigrant students, and claimed they would be deported, even if they have green cards.

The report added that rights activists have expressed concerns over potential discrimination, and anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias, since the start of Israel's war in Gaza. While announcing measures to tackle antisemitism on campuses, the government has not announced specific steps to counter bias against Muslims and Arabs, it added.

(With input from Reuters)