Trump calls Harvard 'anti-Semitic' as funding fight heads to court

US President Donald Trump on Thursday bashed Harvard as an "Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution," as the prestigious university battles his administration's funding freeze in court.

The latest outburst from Trump comes as his administration pursues an unprecedented pressure campaign against US universities, citing alleged inaction on anti-Semitism during last year's nationwide Gaza war protests.

The administration has threatened several top-tier universities with funding freezes and other punishments, prompting concerns over declining academic freedom.

It has also moved to revoke visas and deport foreign students involved the protests, accusing them of supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel provoked the war.

Harvard, which has seen billions in federal funding frozen after it rejected wide-ranging government oversight, filed suit against the Trump administration on Monday.

"The place is a Liberal mess," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, also complaining that it has admitted students "from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart."

His broadside came a day after he issued an executive order targeting higher education, upending how federal authorities decide which universities and colleges can access billions of dollars from certain grants and student loans.

The executive order seeks to clamp down on what Trump brands "unlawful discrimination" -- that is any measures that seek to promote the representation of "racial and ethnic minority individuals." 

- Anti-Semitism claims - 

Trump and his White House team have publicly justified their campaign against universities as a reaction to what they say is uncontrolled "anti-Semitism" and a need to reverse diversity programs aimed at addressing historical oppression of minorities.

The administration claims protests against Israel's war in Gaza that swept across US college campuses last year were rife with anti-Semitism.

Several Jewish lawmakers accused Trump on Thursday of weaponizing anti-Semitism to attack universities for his own ends.

"We reject any policies or actions that foment or take advantage of antisemitism and pit communities against one another; and we unequivocally condemn the exploitation of our community's real concerns about antisemitism to undermine democratic norms and rights," the Democratic senators, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, wrote in a joint letter.

Many US universities, including Harvard, cracked down on the protests over the allegations at the time, with the Cambridge-based institution placing 23 students on probation and denying degrees to 12 others, according to protest organizers.

Trump's claims about diversity tap into long-standing conservative complaints that US university campuses are too liberal, shutting out right-wing voices and favoring minorities.

In the case of Harvard, the White House is seeking unprecedented levels of government control over the inner workings of the country's oldest and wealthiest university -- and one of the most respected educational and research institutions in the world.

In Wednesday's executive order, Trump decreed that "American students and taxpayers deserve better, and my Administration will reform our dysfunctional accreditation system so that colleges and universities focus on delivering high-quality academic programs at a reasonable price."