Following reports in the New York Times that Harvard University had made some concessions in current settlement talks with the government, US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that his administration will seek $1 billion in damages from the university.
“We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump officials have filed lawsuits and demanded astronomical compensation, accusing Harvard and other universities of advancing so-called “woke” ideology while failing to adequately protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Critics have referred to it as the administration’s “pressure campaign” against liberal universities.
In addition to agreeing to pay the Trump administration $200 million last summer, Columbia University, a fellow Ivy League university, promised to abide by regulations prohibiting it from considering race in hiring or admissions.
But the New York Times earlier on Monday reported Trump had dropped his administration’s demands for a settlement payout of $200 million from Harvard, after protracted talks.
Trump told reporters last September that negotiations were close to reaching a $500 million settlement with Harvard, with part of the deal including the opening of trade schools.
“They wanted to do a convoluted job training concept, but it was turned down in that it was wholly inadequate and would not have been, in our opinion, successful,” Trump said in his post late Monday evening.
“It was merely a way of Harvard getting out of a large cash settlement of more than 500 Million Dollars, a number that should be much higher for the serious and heinous illegalities that they have committed,” he added, without specifying what laws Harvard has allegedly broken.
The University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League institution, also bowed to Trump administration concerns last year, announcing it would ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports.
