Trump Plans To Terminate Federal Ties With Harvard

The US government plans to terminate all remaining financial agreements with Harvard in the most recent effort by President Donald Trump to compel the esteemed university to submit to unheard-of scrutiny.

The administration “will send a letter to federal agencies today asking them to identify any contracts with Harvard, and whether they can be canceled or redirected elsewhere,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The ending of contracts — estimated by US media to be worth $100 million — would mark the severance of business ties between the government and an institution that is both the country’s oldest university and a global research powerhouse.

Amid a broad push to amass power in the White House, Trump has singled out Harvard for particularly fierce punishment.

His administration accuses the Cambridge, Massachusetts university of permitting anti-Semitism and pervasive liberal bias.

Harvard has rejected orders to allow a series of extraordinary measures, including an audit of political leanings on campus and a ban on students deemed to be “hostile to the American values.”

In the last few weeks, the elite educational bastion has seen billions of dollars in federal grants frozen and an attempt — paused last Friday by a court ruling — to end its ability to host foreign students.

The university is fighting back, arguing that the Trump attacks are unconstitutional and would cripple its ability to function.

– Trump’s ‘unconstitutional’ actions –

On Monday, Trump vowed he would prevail in the increasingly public struggle.

In a social media post he claimed that foreign students at Harvard included “radicalized lunatics, troublemakers.”

Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign nationals, throwing the future of thousands of students and the lucrative income stream they provide into doubt.

She had threatened last month to block international students at the school unless it turned over records on visa holders’ “illegal and violent activities.”

But a judge quickly suspended the move after the university sued to “stop the government’s arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, and unconstitutional action.”