US President Donald Trump on Monday said his administration would seek $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, pushing back against reports that the elite institution had secured concessions in ongoing settlement negotiations with the federal government.
Trump made the announcement in a post on his Truth Social platform, responding to a New York Times report which claimed that his administration had dropped earlier financial demands as talks dragged on.
“We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University,” Trump wrote.
Officials in the Trump administration have accused Harvard and other major universities of promoting what they describe as “woke” ideology and of failing to adequately protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests on campuses. The administration has backed these claims with legal complaints and demands for large financial settlements.
Critics, however, have described the moves as a sustained pressure campaign against liberal-leaning universities.
The standoff with Harvard follows similar actions against other Ivy League institutions. Columbia University last summer agreed to pay $200 million to the Trump administration and pledged to comply with rules barring the consideration of race in admissions or hiring decisions.
Earlier on Monday, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration had dropped a proposed $200 million settlement demand from Harvard after prolonged negotiations. Trump had previously told reporters in September that talks were nearing a $500 million settlement, which he said would have included the establishment of trade schools.
In his latest post, Trump said such proposals were rejected by his administration.
“They wanted to do a convoluted job training concept, but it was turned down in that it was wholly inadequate and would not have been, in our opinion, successful,” he said.
Trump added that the proposal was an attempt by Harvard to avoid a larger financial penalty.
“It was merely a way of Harvard getting out of a large cash settlement of more than 500 Million Dollars, a number that should be much higher for the serious and heinous illegalities that they have committed,” he wrote, without specifying the alleged legal violations.
Meanwhile, the University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League school, also yielded to pressure from the Trump administration last year, announcing a ban on transgender women participating in women’s sports.
