USA Trump wants one billion dollars from elite Harvard University
US President Donald Trump is adding to his dispute with the elite Harvard University. His administration is demanding one billion US dollars (846 million euros) in compensation from the university and no longer wants to maintain any relations with it in future, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
03.02.2026, 10:16
03.02.2026, 10:17
SDA
Trump accused Harvard of serious misconduct and anti-Semitic behavior. In his view, the matter was a criminal and not a civil issue. He did not provide any concrete evidence of criminal acts. At the same time, he attacked the university president Alan Garber personally and held him responsible for the handling of the conflict.
Dispute over influence on universities
The conflict is part of a larger dispute between the Trump administration and several top universities. The White House accuses parts of the university landscape of having a left-liberal orientation and inadequate measures against anti-Semitism, while at the same time attempting to exert political influence through funding.
Harvard has come under particular pressure. State research funding was temporarily withdrawn from the university, but a federal court declared this to be illegal and ordered the funds to be released. Talks between the government and the university are ongoing.
Trump announces legal action against "New York Times
The new escalation was prompted by a report in the "New York Times" about the dispute between the government and the university, which Trump described as "totally false". According to the report, the government has dropped its original demand for a payment of 200 million US dollars (just under 170 million euros) in ongoing talks. The aim of the negotiations is still to push through changes to university policy, according to people familiar with the talks.
Trump, on the other hand, stated that the original aim had been to achieve significantly higher sums and spoke of more than 500 million dollars. At the same time, he announced that he would take legal action against the New York Times. "We will soon see how I fare in my lawsuit against these fraudsters," he wrote.
Harvard did not initially comment on Trump's latest accusations. In April 2025, the university had denied such allegations via lawyers.
