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BumRushDaShow

(151,125 posts)
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 04:10 AM Sunday

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/

16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Harvard says Trump administration doubled down after sending letter reported as unauthorized (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Sunday OP
Krasnov (R-Felon) having an wannabe Ivy League tantrum BoRaGard Sunday #1
Doesn't seem like a "mistake" to me . . . . . . no_hypocrisy Sunday #2
Trump Lies CitizenZero Sunday #3
This. The lies are a reflexive response to something that's getting negative news coverage-- tanyev Sunday #6
Yes creon Sunday #7
I know it's true because BidenRocks Sunday #13
No creon Sunday #15
You'd have to be stupid enough to vote for trump, to believe that "unauthorized" bullshit. (nt) Paladin Sunday #4
Flip-flopping on the tariffs, showing photo-shopped pictures of Garcia's tats Baitball Blogger Sunday #5
He is living by the old saying: DENVERPOPS Sunday #10
In other words it was a ploy to control the message Historic NY Sunday #8
It seems to be a pattern. When they get bad press MadameButterfly Sunday #9
Old joke DENVERPOPS Sunday #11
Yes, this is how the Chump Administration gets to have it both ways FakeNoose Sunday #12
Please project the image BidenRocks Sunday #14
Maddow Blog-Trump's Harvard fiasco underscores the White House's incompetence crisis LetMyPeopleVote Monday #16

CitizenZero

(796 posts)
3. Trump Lies
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 07:02 AM
Sunday

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)
6. This. The lies are a reflexive response to something that's getting negative news coverage--
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 08:24 AM
Sunday

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 media’s attention is diverted by some other horrible thing he’s done.

BidenRocks

(1,346 posts)
13. I know it's true because
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 06:35 PM
Sunday

chump told us he's looking into it!

BTW, is it infrastructure week yet?

Paladin

(30,214 posts)
4. You'd have to be stupid enough to vote for trump, to believe that "unauthorized" bullshit. (nt)
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 08:07 AM
Sunday

Baitball Blogger

(49,850 posts)
5. Flip-flopping on the tariffs, showing photo-shopped pictures of Garcia's tats
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 08:07 AM
Sunday

And now Harvard. The lies are coming in fast and furious.

DENVERPOPS

(11,839 posts)
10. He is living by the old saying:
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 03:50 PM
Sunday

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....

MadameButterfly

(2,873 posts)
9. It seems to be a pattern. When they get bad press
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 03:29 PM
Sunday

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)
11. Old joke
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 04:00 PM
Sunday

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)
12. Yes, this is how the Chump Administration gets to have it both ways
Sun Apr 20, 2025, 04:08 PM
Sunday

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.

LetMyPeopleVote

(161,888 posts)
16. Maddow Blog-Trump's Harvard fiasco underscores the White House's incompetence crisis
Mon Apr 21, 2025, 08:22 PM
Monday
UPDATE (April 21, 2025, 6:15 p.m. ET): On Monday, Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, with the school’s president warning that “the consequences of the government’s overreach will be severe and long-lasting.”

Just when it seemed the White House’s Harvard mess couldn’t get worse, it appears Team Trump didn’t intend to send its original set of outlandish demands.
https://bsky.app/profile/jimrissmiller.bsky.social/post/3lndv4tezbk2p


https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-harvard-fiasco-underscores-white-houses-incompetence-crisis-rcna202124

It started with a weird letter. On April 11, Harvard University officials received a series of outlandish written demands from the Trump administration, including a “request” to install outside auditors who would monitor the school’s academic departments.

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 Trump’s behest the IRS reportedly began scrutinizing the university’s 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 administration’s 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 Harvard’s 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 Trump’s 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 Trump’s White House: These guys just don’t seem to have any idea what they’re doing.
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