Trump threatens to cut another $1 billion in Harvard funding, WSJ reports

US President Donald Trump is threatening to cut another $1 billion in funding for Harvard University, this time targeting health research, the Wall Street Journal reports, as the administration’s row with elite schools escalates.

The Trump administration has withheld government funding from Harvard, Columbia and other universities in response to their tolerance of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in what the administration has labeled a failure to control antisemitism on campus.

Harvard pushed back last week, rejecting demands for control of its student body, faculty and curriculum, saying that would cede control of the university to the government.

Within hours of Harvard taking its stand, the administration announced it was freezing $2.3 billion in federal funding to the school and the next day threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reports the plans to pull an additional $1 billion in research funds arose after administration officials thought a long list of demands they sent Harvard on April 11 was a confidential starting point for negotiations, and officials were surprised when Harvard released the letter to the public.

Trump officials had been planning to treat Harvard more leniently than Columbia but now want to increase the pressure on Harvard, the Journal reports.