WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump threatened to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status on April 15, a day after his administration said it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding for the Ivy League school.
In a social media post, Trump said the university should be taxed “as a Political Entity” if it continues to push what he described as “political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness.'”
Similar to many other nonprofit colleges, Harvard is exempt from federal and state income taxes. The president doesn’t have the unilateral authority to revoke an organization’s tax-exempt status, but a bill introduced in Congress last year would change that.
The comments are the latest volley in an escalating battle between the White House and the nation’s most prestigious college. On April 14, Harvard’s leaders said they would not agree to a list of Trump administration demands, which included a mask ban and removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Read more: Trump administration freezes $2.2B in funding to Harvard after school rejected demands
“The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the university’s lawyers wrote in a letter to the government. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”
The response contrasted sharply with the approach of Columbia University, another Ivy League institution, which largely obliged similar orders from the administration and ousted its president in late March.
Read more: Columbia University’s head steps down after concessions made in feud with Trump over funds
Hours after Harvard’s refusal on April 14, the Justice Department’s multi-agency “Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism” said it would freeze more than $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts to the school. The group, which has targeted a slew of affluent and selective colleges in recent weeks, said the pause was related to spiking antisemitism on Harvard’s campus since pro-Palestinian protests broke out in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
Related DOJ task force to visit Columbia, other colleges to investigate allegations of antisemitism
Last week, a group of Harvard professors filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration after federal officials announced a review of $9 billion in contracts and awards to the university.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
