Washington DC, April 15: U.S. President Donald Trump posted a strong message and warned Harvard University that it may lose its tax-exempt status on his social media platform ‘Truth Social’ on Tuesday (April 15). He said that Harvard University should lose its tax-exempt status if it continues to support what he described as political, ideological and terrorist-inspired ideas.
Trump suggested that Harvard is no longer acting in the public interest, which is a key condition for keeping its tax-exempt status. He hinted that if Harvard continues on this path, it should be treated like a political organisation and be taxed accordingly.
His message reflects ongoing debates about whether some universities are becoming too politically involved or biased, especially in how they handle controversial global issues.
“Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting “Sickness?” Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!,” Donald Trump said in his post.
Harvard University has not responded to Trump’s comment publicly yet.
On Monday (April 14) the U.S. Department of Education announced that it is freezing around USD 2.3 billion in federal funds to Harvard University. This action came after the university said that it would not comply with a list of demands from the Trump administration. These demands are part of the White House’s campaign against antisemitism.
The administration had ordered Harvard to:
1. Shut down Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs
2. Adopt merit-based admissions and hiring
3. Conduct an audit of faculty, students, and leadership on their views about diversity
4. Ban face masks during protests (seen as targeting pro-Palestinian activists)
5. Suspend students who occupied university buildings
Harvard refused these demands, saying it would not follow these conditions even though almost USD 9 billion in total funding could be at risk.
