In a tense legal battle with Harvard, the prestigious university that has consistently rejected his broad policy demands, President Donald Trump is betting he can win the support of the public.
Harvard has sued the Trump presidency twice for deeds it says sum to a” strategy of punishment”. The school should strengthen viewpoint diversity and its response to school protests, according to its president, Alan Garber, two issues that the Trump administration is pressing for to be addressed.
Trump has filed a separate motion to revoke its tax-exempt position, and he also last week filed a second lawsuit against Harvard for excluding foreign students.
At the swearing-in ceremony of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s swearing-in meeting on Wednesday, Trump alleged that Harvard’s officials were” totally antisemitic” for their handling of the protests in Gaza last year.
” It’s been exposed, quite exposed, and I think they’re dealing quite seriously. They each lose an additional$ 250 million each time they fight. Trump continued, adding that the US was undermining Harvard’s$ 53 billion investment by claiming that there were additional$ 100 million under investigation.
A TIMELINE OF THE TRUMP-HARVARD Epic
Public polling reveals a divided but somewhat negative response to Trump’s strong-arm method. According to an Associated Press/NORC survey, 56 % of adults approve of the government’s processing of college education, but the majority are unsure about Trump’s specific strategies.
The administration’s plan goals should be impedited, according to 45 % of respondents, with 27 % of those responding friendly. Thirty-six percentage oppose revoking universities ‘ tax position, compared to 30 % in pursuit.
Harvard, also, has a reputation to protect as citizens express waning trust in higher learning. Concerning value and political bias, questions of value have extremely weighed down public support, particularly among Republicans, as universities continue to reel from the school protests that led to a wave of harassment against Jewish students.
In 2024, a third of people polled by Gallup had very little or no confidence in higher education, up from 10 % a decade before.
Singing out Harvard
Other schools have largely avoided direct clash with Trump, with Columbia most clearly abstaining from the government’s needs. In response to$ 400 million in funding cuts, the university agreed to revamp its campus protest policies and place its Middle Eastern studies department under new oversight, among other reforms.
Trump has been up against both in terms of both legal and political issues as a result of Harvard’s refusal to comply. Harvard’s reputation as an Ivy League school has helped Trump bolster the belief that it caters to an out-of-touch wealthy as the claims wind through the authorities.  ,
He threatened to change$ 3 billion in offers to business schools, saying that the funding was “badly needed.”
Harvard is not exactly a friendly figure, according to GOP planner John Feehery. ” It’s not like they do a particularly good job of marketing themselves to ordinary Americans. They claim to be the “elite of the wealthy,” you know that.
The president has used instances of anti-Israel attitude to targeted a larger number of student card holders more often by portraying the school as a center for antisemitism.
The administration has so far revoked thousands of student visas global, in some cases according to pro-Palestinian engagement.
” We need to see their listings,” Harvard says. About 31 % of their kids are foreign-based, according to Trump, who at one point floated a 15 % membership cap.
” If somebody is coming from a specific region and they’re 100 % fine, which I hope most of them are, but many of them didn’t get – you’re going to see some pretty dramatic people”, he added.
Harvard has called the Trump administration’s steps “unwarranted“, signaling that it will only collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security, which is seeking the disciplinary records of student card holders, as “required by law”.
In general, it has sparked some form of intellectual opposition, leading to the signing of a letter from April 1st,” communicate with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political intervention then endangering American higher schooling.”
Liberals tying themselves to Harvard
In Washington, the answer to Trump’s behavior has fallen mostly along party lines. Trump’s professional orders perfectly juggle Harvard’s school procedures, according to Republicans.
House Republicans sat the president of prestigious universities before their committees for a resounding hearing on school hatred, which sparked a flood of resignations in the previous Congress.
Some eventually stepped down following their evidence before Congress, including Harvard’s Claudine Gay, who apologized for terse answers that sidestepped how protesters calling for murder should be disciplined.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY ) posted on X in response to Trump’s revoking Harvard’s student visa program in response to the statement,” Harvard neglected its responsibility to protect American students and national security, and now President Realdonald Trump is stepping in to hold them accountable.”
She continued,” This courageous actions is a necessary step to restore order, protection, and academic brilliance at Harvard.”
Stefanik, who is now running for governor of New York, raised her national page with aggressive markets at those legislative sessions.
Democrats, meanwhile, have attempted to straddle the line between supporting Israeli individuals and scrutinizing the excess alleged by institutions. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY ) wrote to the Treasury Department inspector general shortly before the announcement that Trump had removed Harvard’s tax-exempt status earlier this month.
Schumer stated in a separate April statement that” the Trump presidency is making unprecedented demands of institutions aimed at undermining or perhaps destroying these crucial institutions.”
” Colleges must do more to combat antisemitism on college, but the management should not use it as an excuse for a broad and extra-legal assault on these organizations”, he added. Harvard is right to oppose.
The juggling act reflects the ways in which Democrats are vulnerable to Trump’s nationalist appeals while Republicans have used school racism as a political cone.
After losing ground to Republicans with working-class citizens in subsequent elections, Democrats have begun to adjust their information, leaning into nationalist designs and rejecting” coded” language used by the Left.
Trump is attempting to force us into a part. We didn’t let him do that, according to Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.
Bannon’s prescribed to disengage the working group is to make the economy Democrats ‘ “bread and butter”, emphasizing the first tariff panic of Trump’s next term.
” The bread and butter is the problem,” he said. He claimed that butter and eggs cost more than each.  ,
Trump faces a political resentment from suburban swing voters, who again consistently voted for Republicans. According to Harvard Magazine, his activities include frequent breaks to provides that support public health research on disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and other conditions.
The Associated Press poll found that 62 % of adults support maintaining funding levels for medical research, including 57 % of Republicans.
Republicans, who see the conflict as a blip in the eye of Harvard after decades of being perceived as marginalized, agree with Trump’s techniques.
Feehery said,” This notion that we can teaching these elites finally on anything is kind of socially very salient.”
” It’s kind of equivalent to Andrew Jackson taking down the National Bank”, he added. It’s just an easy objective, you know.
Republicans may have difficulty squeezing out their foundation in the midterm elections because of historical challenges as the party in power, but Trump surprised political observers by winning in November with a message that mostly ignored pertains to the center.
Legal fights away
Trump faced a temporary loss in court last week after a federal judge put a hold on his student visa ban from Harvard. A initial hearing on the improvement is scheduled for Thursday. Oral claims for Harvard’s earlier complaint are set for July 21 because the same judge, who is based in Boston, has consented to move things along.
An unpleasant decision – Judge Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointment, constantly sided against Trump in his first name – may mean a protracted legal battle that eventually makes its way to the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department has not yet filed an appeal against the decisions that three judges have overturned Trump’s professional requests aimed at Democratic-aligned law companies.
Trump’s efforts to reduce state dimensions, including the widespread layoffs he carried out under his Department of Government Effectiveness, are expected to receive separate rulings from the Supreme Court.
CAN TRUMP WIN HIS LEGAL BATTLE AGAINST HARVARD?
Republicans in Congress have criticized the assets of significant universities in response to Trump’s attack on Harvard. A delivery imposing a higher tax on endowment purchase money was included in the “big, beautiful expenses” that passed the House last month.
That provision is projected to cost Harvard exclusively$ 850 million a month should it become law.
