Trump threatens Harvard's tax-exempt status after freezing $2bn funding
Baku, April 16, AZERTAC
President Donald Trump has called for Harvard University to lose a valuable tax break, hours after his administration announced it is freezing more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in federal funds for the elite institution, BBC reported.
The White House has demanded the oldest university in the US make changes to hiring, admissions and teaching practices which it says will help fight antisemitism on campus.
Since returning to office, Trump has pushed to reshape top universities by threatening to withhold federal funds that are mostly designated for research.
Harvard became the first major US university to reject his administration's demands on Monday, accusing the White House of trying to "control" its community.
In a Tuesday morning post on social media, Trump threatened to go beyond withholding the federal funds and targeted Harvard tax-exempt status.
Universities, as well as many charities and religious groups, are exempt from paying federal income taxes. This valuable tax break, though, can be removed if the groups become involved in political activities or move away from their stated purposes.
"Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting "Sickness?" he wrote on Truth Social. "Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!"
Losing the exemption could cost Harvard millions of dollars each year.
The Ivy League institution also has a fund of assets, or endowment, valued at $53bn.
Later on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wanted the university to apologise for what his administration says is continuing tolerance of antisemitism.
"[Trump] wants to see Harvard apologise, and Harvard should apologise," Leavitt said.
The sweeping changes demanded by the White House would have transformed Harvard's operations and ceded a large amount of control to the government.
Its letter to Harvard on Friday, obtained by the New York Times, said the university had failed to live up to the "intellectual and civil rights conditions" that justify federal investment.
President Trump has accused leading universities of failing to protect Jewish students when college campuses around the country saw protests against the war in Gaza and US support for Israel last year.
The letter orders the university to take disciplinary action for "violations" during protests.
In explaining its rejection of these demands, Harvard president Alan Garber said the university would not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights under the First Amendment protecting free speech.
In March, the Trump administration said it was reviewing roughly $256m in federal contracts and grants at Harvard, and an additional $8.7bn in multi-year grant commitments.
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, said on X: "It is time to totally cut off US taxpayer funding to this institution."
Harvard professors filed a lawsuit in response, alleging the government was unlawfully attacking freedom of speech and academic freedom.
Harvard is one of a number of elite universities in the crosshairs of the new presidency.
Columbia University in New York City agreed to a number of demands last month after the White House pulled $400m in federal funding.
But on Monday Columbia struck a less compliant tone, releasing its own letter that said it was continuing "good faith talks" with the government as it seeks to win back its funding, but also said it would "reject any agreement that would require us to relinquish our independence".
Other news in this section
