Harvard says Trump administration doubled down after sending letter reported as unauthorized
Source: Reuters
April 19, 2025 4:13 PM EDT Updated 11 hours ago
WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - Harvard said on Saturday the Trump administration was "doubling down" on far-reaching demands on the university despite a published report that government officials had sent a letter spelling out those demands without authorization. The letter from government lawyers, received by Harvard on April 11, was sent before senior officials of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration could approve it or give the go-ahead for its release, the New York Times reported late on Friday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Three days after that letter arrived, Harvard rejected numerous demands that it said would amount to the school giving up control over hiring, admissions and instruction to the government. The Trump administration subsequently froze $2.3 billion in funding to Harvard and threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status and take away its ability to enroll foreign students.
It also demanded information on the university's foreign ties, students and faculty. "Even assuming the administration now wishes to take back its litany of breathtakingly intrusive demands, it appears to have doubled down on those demands through its deeds in recent days," a Harvard spokesperson said. "Actions speak louder than words."
Since his January inauguration, Trump has cracked down on top U.S. universities, saying they mishandled last year's pro-Palestinian protests and allowed antisemitism to fester on campus. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say their criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza is wrongly conflated with antisemitism.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harvard-says-trump-administration-doubled-down-after-sending-letter-reported-2025-04-19/

BoRaGard
(5,089 posts)at America's expense
no_hypocrisy
(51,252 posts)CitizenZero
(796 posts)Trump lies as easily as he breathes. That is no surprise coming from a sociopath. He almost doesn't care if people know he is lying. His lies are just cover for his criminal and thuggish behavior. So of course what he says and what he does are two different things. What would shock normal people doesn't even register with Trump. When someone has no conscience they become capable of all sorts of heinous things.
tanyev
(46,159 posts)the only thing Trump really cares about. So he instantly lies or denies, denies, denies and kicks the can down the road for another news cycle or two, until the medias attention is diverted by some other horrible thing hes done.
True.
I doubt that he even knows a lie from truth
BidenRocks
(1,346 posts)chump told us he's looking into it!
BTW, is it infrastructure week yet?
It is not.
Paladin
(30,214 posts)Baitball Blogger
(49,850 posts)And now Harvard. The lies are coming in fast and furious.
DENVERPOPS
(11,839 posts)If you can't DAZZLE them with BRILLIANCE, BAFFLE THEM WITH BULLSHIT.........
I certainly wish, that no one had told them during the Pandemic, that the Un-vaccinated Republicans were croaking in far greater numbers than the vaccinated Dems........
Once known, DeSantis and Abbott flipped overnight, suddenly recommending people in their states get vaccinated....
Historic NY
(38,867 posts)MadameButterfly
(2,873 posts)they say it was a mistake and they have undone it, but they have no intention of doing so.
I guess they think enough people will believe the problem has been solved.
DENVERPOPS
(11,839 posts)How do you know a Republican is lying? Their lips are moving.
Not so funny anymore..............
Everything to know about Republican Politicians and The Republican MAGAot Trumphumpers....
#1 Everything they say or do is 100% hypocritical.....
#2 Every single thing they say is a blatant, flagrant lie.
#3 Everything they say is 180 degrees from the truth, reality, or reason......
WASF
FakeNoose
(37,192 posts)As long as they can get away with their bullsh*t, they'll keep shoveling it down our throats.
As soon as they get some pushback, either from the press or from the Democrats, they start screaming about a simple "error" of some kind. Absolute BS lies! It's all intentional and it will never stop until he dies, or leaves office.
BidenRocks
(1,346 posts)everywhere he appears in public.
Bet it gets a reaction!
LetMyPeopleVote
(161,888 posts)Just when it seemed the White Houses Harvard mess couldnt get worse, it appears Team Trump didnt intend to send its original set of outlandish demands.
https://bsky.app/profile/jimrissmiller.bsky.social/post/3lndv4tezbk2p
Link to tweet
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-harvard-fiasco-underscores-white-houses-incompetence-crisis-rcna202124
The university realized that failure to comply with the ridiculous demands would result in governmental punishment. But left with little choice, Harvard balked anyway.
The retaliation was swift: Immediately after Harvard said it would not comply with the apparent extortion attempt, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in multiyear grants to Harvard. (There are federal requirements in place when imposing financial penalties like these, and the Republican White House appears to have ignored those requirements.) The Department of Homeland Security secretary also canceled nearly $3 million in agency grants to Harvard, and at Trumps behest the IRS reportedly began scrutinizing the universitys tax-exempt status.
But what if the match that lit this fuse was dropped in error? The New York Times, citing multiple sources, reported that the original letter to Harvard should not have been sent and was unauthorized.
Its content was authentic, the three people said, but there were differing accounts inside the administration of how it had been mishandled. Some people at the White House believed it had been sent prematurely, according to the three people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions. Others in the administration thought it had been meant to be circulated among the task force members rather than sent to Harvard.
If the administrations letter should not have been sent, was the White House prepared to retract it? Actually, no: Not only did a senior White House official tell the Times that the administration was standing by the letter, the same official went on the record to say it was malpractice for Harvards lawyers not to call administration officials about the contents of the ridiculous letter......
Alas, we can keep going. When Donald Trump and his team disclosed Social Security numbers while releasing documents related to the John F. Kennedy assassination, it was a reminder that this White House has a competence problem. When the president and his team sent non-criminals to a prison in El Salvador while falsely claiming that they were gang members, it was a reminder that this White House has a competence problem.
When Team Trumps DOGE operation repeatedly stepped on its own tail, including an instance in which it confused $8 billion and $8 million, it was a reminder that this administration has a competence problem. When the White House royally screwed up its Office of Management and Budget spending freeze memo, it was a reminder that it has a competence problem.
The common thread tying together too many of the developments surrounding Trumps White House: These guys just dont seem to have any idea what theyre doing.