President Donald Trump announced Monday that his administration is weighing a plan to strip Harvard University of $3 billion in federal funding and redirect those funds to trade schools throughout the country.
The potential shift comes amid intensifying scrutiny of the Ivy League institution’s conduct and foreign student policies.
“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,” Trump posted to Truth Social.
“What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!”
This latest statement marks a significant escalation in Trump’s clash with the university, which has become a central target of his administration over allegations of anti-Semitism and foreign entanglements.
Speaking on Sunday while preparing to depart Morristown, New Jersey, the president pointed to what he views as a flawed admissions policy that disadvantages U.S. citizens.
He argued that too many slots are being given to students from abroad, leaving qualified Americans without opportunities.
“I don’t have a problem with foreign students. But it shouldn’t be 31 percent. It’s too much, because we have Americans who want to go there, and to other places, and they can’t go there because there’s 31 percent foreigners,” Trump commented on the tarmac.
He added that many foreign students likely wouldn’t pose an issue but questioned the necessity of such a large share of the student population coming from outside the United States.
In another Monday post on Truth Social, Trump said his administration is still waiting for a full list of Harvard’s international student roster to assess potential national security concerns.
“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,” the president wrote.
He criticized Harvard’s pace in supplying the requested data and implied the delay might be intentional.
“Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason,” Trump wrote.
“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!”
The administration has ramped up actions against Harvard in recent weeks.
Last Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered the university’s removal from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a designation required for hosting international students.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Harvard of multiple transgressions, including encouraging violence, failing to control antisemitic incidents on campus, and collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party.
In response, Harvard filed a lawsuit Friday morning in federal court, arguing that the administration’s actions violated the school’s First Amendment protections.
Within hours, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary injunction, blocking the DHS order and allowing the school to maintain its SEVP status for now.
The lawsuit painted a dire picture of what the school would lose if forced to dismiss its international population.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the complaint stated.
University President Alan Garber alleged the government’s moves were retaliatory, tied directly to Harvard’s resistance to federal influence.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” the suit added.
Garber claimed the administration was trying to strip Harvard of its academic freedom, accusing the White House of attempting to dictate university operations, including control over curriculum, and faculty appointments.
Current enrollment numbers from Harvard show that international students make up 27.2 percent of the student population, totaling 6,793 foreigners for the 2024–25 academic year.
Beyond immigration concerns, the administration has already begun rolling back funding, beginning with $60 million in grants revoked last week. According to administration officials, total cuts are now approaching $3 billion.
Now for the important point. Administrators for these trade schools who know something about trades. I was teaching at the local tech school when the number of administrators first exceeded the number of teachers.
And the head of school (doctorate in linguistics) banned all purchases of technical publications from the library because we had to have fine literature in order too qualify as a college so the funds were reallocated to “literature”.
It’s nearly impossible to get around the academics determined to gut any technical training in this country.
We could have a huge impact on the academic elites jobs if the government offered free tuition to Trade Schools thus creating less needs for academic elitist instructors. I once taught Computer Programming at a Technical Institute. After my first semester I was let go because the Teachers Union found out that I was not a certified instructor. In other words my decades of experience was not good enough to take a job away from a union dues paying teacher. The county Correctional Facility found out and recruited me to come and instruct courses in English, Reading, Writing and simple mathematics at the Correctional Facility that had many young people that lacked even those skills. The teachers union didn’t mind because their members didn’t want to teach convicts. I found it very rewarding and so did my students .
Apply same for all colleges use the Harvard plan to defund Ivy Leagues & allied colleges