(Image source from: AFP)
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that his administration plans to ask for one billion dollars in damages from Harvard University following a report by the New York Times. This report indicated that Harvard had made some agreements in its ongoing discussions with the government. Trump shared this information on his Truth Social site, stating, "We are pursuing One Billion Dollars in damages, and we do not want any further involvement with Harvard University in the future. " Officials from Trump’s team have claimed that Harvard and other universities promote what they call "woke" ideology while not adequately protecting Jewish students during pro-Palestinian demonstrations. They have filed legal actions and requested large financial settlements. Critics have labeled this as a pressure tactic by the administration targeting progressive universities.
Columbia University, another Ivy League school, settled with the Trump administration last summer for 200 million dollars and agreed to follow rules prohibiting consideration of race in admissions and hiring processes. However, the New York Times reported earlier on Monday that Trump has withdrawn his administration's request for a 200 million dollar settlement from Harvard after lengthy discussions.
Last September, Trump mentioned to reporters that negotiations were nearing a 500 million dollar agreement with Harvard, which included launching trade schools. He explained, "They proposed a complicated job training plan, but it was dismissed because it was totally insufficient and, in our view, would not succeed. " In his late Monday post, he continued, "It was just Harvard's way of avoiding a significant cash settlement exceeding 500 million dollars, a figure that should actually be much higher considering the serious and terrible illegal actions they have taken," although he did not detail which laws Harvard is accused of violating. The University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League school, also responded to Trump's administration’s concerns last year by declaring that transgender women would be barred from competing in women’s sports.
