Trump to define Judaism as a race or nationality in executive order for college campuses


President Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday authorizing the Education Department to withhold federal funding from colleges and universities that fail to combat anti-Semitism on campus, The New York Times and The Washington Post report. Since the relevant federal law, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, doesn't mention religion, the Trump administration is effectively defining Judaism as a race or nationality — both protected under Title VI, along with "color."
"There's been a lot of unclarity surrounding the application of Title VI to Jewishness, basically, because of a question of about whether Jewishness is primarily a religion — in which case Title VI would not apply to anti-Semitic discrimination — or whether it's a race or national origin," a senior administration official told the Post.
The Anti-Defamation League's Jonathan Greenblatt told the Times there's "empirical" evidence that anti-Semitism is on the rise in the U.S., and "we see Jewish students on college campuses and Jewish people all over being marginalized," adding that "of course" he hopes Trump's executive order "will be enforced in a fair manner." But there are concerns the rule, which defines anti-Semitism broadly, could be abused to quash free speech on campuses and penalize legitimate criticism of Israeli policy, specifically regarding its growing occupation of Palestinian territory, and especially given Trump's record.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"It is particularly outrageous and absurd for President Trump to pretend to care about anti-Semitism during the same week in which he once again publicly spouted anti-Semitic tropes about Jews and money," J Street's Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a stamens. Emily Mayer with IfNotNow argued that "the order's move to define Judaism as a 'nationality' promotes the classically bigoted idea that American Jews are not American." White nationalists are among those who champion this vampiric "dual loyalties" slur against Jews.
Previous legislative efforts to include anti-Semitism in Title VI have had bipartisan support but come up short in Congress.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Wonsan-Kalma: North Korea's new 'mammoth' beach resort
Under the Radar Pyongyang wants to boost tourism but there won't be many foreign visitors to Kim Jong Un's 'pet project'
-
The 5 best TV reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Finding an entirely new cast to play beloved characters is harder than it looks
-
Codeword: July 10, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities