The Trump administration escalated its fight with Harvard University on Tuesday, slashing another $60 million in federal grants and putting the school on notice over what officials called a “continued failure” to address antisemitism and racial discrimination on campus.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced the decision on X, stating bluntly, “In the Trump Administration, discrimination will not be tolerated on campus.”
HHS said it is terminating multiple multi-year grant awards that had been earmarked for Harvard’s health research programs, bringing total cuts against the university to $2.7 billion over the last six weeks. The move comes amid an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to withhold taxpayer dollars from institutions they claim are fostering radicalism and intolerance.
Harvard responded by suing the administration, calling the grant cuts “unlawful and beyond the government’s authority.” But Education Secretary Linda McMahon made it clear earlier this month that the elite Ivy League school should stop applying for federal funding altogether.
In a blunt letter, McMahon told Harvard officials that “none will be provided,” and mocked the university’s $53 billion endowment.
“You have an approximately $53 Billion head start, much of which was made possible by the fact that you are living within the walls of, and benefiting from, the prosperity secured by the United States of America and its free-market system you teach your students to despise,” she wrote.
Harvard has faced mounting criticism since last fall, when pro-Palestinian demonstrations swept the campus in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. University administrators were accused of allowing a hostile climate for Jewish students to fester unchecked. Congressional hearings, donor revolts, and widespread media scrutiny followed.
Two successive rounds of federal grant cuts had already struck Harvard prior to Tuesday’s action, and President Trump has repeatedly warned that if the university continues down its current path, its tax-exempt status could be next.
Conservative lawmakers have praised the administration’s stance. House Oversight Chairman James Comer recently told reporters, “It’s about time someone reminded these institutions who’s footing the bill—and it isn’t their radical activist departments.”
Harvard maintains that it is committed to combating hate on campus, but critics say the actions speak louder than words—and they’re still waiting for results.
For now, the message from Washington is clear: if universities won’t protect all students equally, the checks will stop coming.
