Lifestyle & Wellness DeskTrump sues Harvard, Demands $1 Billion in Damages
Donald Trump has announced he is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University amid his administration’s ongoing dispute with the institution.
The announcement follows reports that the administration had previously sought $200 million in negotiations with the university but later withdrew that demand. Trump referenced the report in a Truth Social post, accusing Harvard of “feeding a lot of nonsense” to the media.
Officials from Trump’s administration have claimed that Harvard did not do enough to address antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests, a charge the university has denied. Harvard has been a frequent target in the White House’s campaign against what it labels “woke” and “radical left” ideologies on American campuses.
In April last year, Trump revoked roughly $2 billion in research grants and froze federal funding to Harvard. The university filed a lawsuit, arguing that the government should not dictate what private universities can teach, whom they admit or hire, or which fields of study they pursue.
A US federal court later overturned the funding cuts, ruling that the government had violated the university’s free speech rights. The White House pledged to immediately challenge the ruling, maintaining that Harvard remains “ineligible for grants in the future.”
Prior to Monday’s announcement, the administration had been in discussions with Harvard about a potential deal to restore the frozen funding.
“We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University,” Trump wrote, accusing the university of “serious and heinous illegalities,” though he did not specify how the law was allegedly broken.
Trump has previously threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status and seize control of patents resulting from federally funded research.
Three other Ivy League schools—Columbia, Penn, and Brown—reached agreements with the administration to protect at-risk funding rather than pursue court battles.
