Harvard University sues Trump

Harvard University sued to block US President Donald Trump, yesterday, from freezing billions of dollars in federal funding after the Harvard rejected a list of White House demands that it said would undermine its independence.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston said Trump has launched a broad attack on funding for cutting-edge research at major universities as he seeks to rid them of what he describes as antisemitism and ideological bias.

“This case involves the Government’s efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard,” the lawsuit said.

Harvard alleges the Trump administration’s actions were arbitrary and unlawful and violated the university’s First Amendment rights to free speech.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since his January inauguration, Trump has cracked down on top US universities, saying they mishandled last year’s pro-Palestinian protests and allowed antisemitism to fester on campuses. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say their criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza is wrongly conflated with antisemitism.

Harvard is the first university to file a lawsuit in response to Trump’s crackdown.

Prior to this California also sued Trump.