Washington DC: US President Donald Trump unleashed a scathing attack on Harvard University, calling the Ivy League institution a “joke” plagued by “woke” and “Radical Left” ideology. He also demanded that the university be removed from global rankings and stripped of federal funding.
In a fiery post on Truth Social, Trump took aim at Harvard’s recent hiring of former mayors Bill de Blasio (New York) and Lori Lightfoot (Chicago) to teach municipal governance.
“They hired, from New York (Bill D) and Chicago (Lori L), at ridiculously high salaries, two of the worst and most incompetent mayors in the history of our country,” Trump wrote.
“Harvard is a joke, teaches hate and stupidity, and should no longer receive federal funds.”
Trump accused Harvard of hiring only “Radical Left, birdbrains” and referenced the controversy surrounding the university’s former president, who faced plagiarism accusations.
His comments come just a day after Fox News reported that the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism has frozen over $2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts to Harvard. The move follows Harvard’s refusal to comply with federal directives on addressing campus antisemitism.
“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities,” the task force said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the task force launched a review of nearly $9 billion in federal grants awarded to the university. The Trump administration is reportedly planning tougher measures against universities where anti-Israel protests erupt, including potential detention and deportation of foreign students involved in such demonstrations.
The developments come amid heightened scrutiny of elite educational institutions’ roles in addressing free speech, antisemitism, and political polarization on campus.