Trump demands $1B from Harvard, deepening feud

What happened

President Donald Trump on Tuesday doubled his $500 million demand from Harvard University, ramping up his long-running feud with the university over disputed claims of antisemitism. Harvard is “feeding a lot of ‘nonsense’ to the Failing New York Times” about the cash demand being dropped, Trump said in a series of social media posts Monday night and Tuesday morning. “We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University.”

Who said what

Trump’s “blistering attack” on Harvard followed a report in The New York Times that he “privately told negotiators he was willing to drop his demand for a $200 million payment” and $300 million workforce training investment if it “would secure an agreement,” the Times said. This “sudden shift was characteristic” of Trump’s “vacillating demands” while trying to “hammer out a Harvard deal” he views as central to his “broader push to alter the culture of a higher education system he had derided as a factory of ’woke’ ideology.”

With the new cash demand, “both sides appear to move further from reaching a deal,” The Associated Press said. Trump’s “outburst” leaves Harvard and the White House “firmly entrenched” in a conflict that he has repeatedly “said was nearing an end” since June.

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What next?

Trump “fired a new shot in his war with Harvard,” but “the battleground has changed” in the university’s favor, The Wall Street Journal said. Harvard “rode into 2026 on the back of significant court victories” that restored $2.2 billion in funding and “halted Trump’s bids to block international students.” The fight isn’t over, the Times said, but Harvard has “seen that it can survive bombardment from the White House.”