Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for
Harvard
[May 28, 2025]
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, COLLIN BINKLEY and LEAH WILLINGHAM
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration asked federal agencies
Tuesday to cancel contracts with Harvard University worth about $100
million, intensifying the president's clash with the nation’s oldest and
wealthiest university.
The government already has canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal
research grants for the Ivy League school, which has pushed back on the
administration's demands for changes to several of its policies.
A letter sent Tuesday from the General Services Administration, which
oversees contracting and real estate for the federal government,
directed agencies to review contracts with the university and seek
alternate arrangements.
The New York Times first reported on the letter.
President Donald Trump has railed against Harvard, calling it a hotbed
of liberalism and antisemitism. The school filed a lawsuit April 21 over
the administration's calls for changes to the university's leadership,
governance and admissions policies. Since then, the administration has
slashed the school's federal funding, moved to cut off enrollment of
international students and threatened its tax-exempt status.
Contracts include scientific research, executive training
The administration has identified about 30 contracts across nine
agencies to be reviewed for cancellation, according to an administration
official who was not authorized to speak publicly and provided details
on the condition of anonymity.
The contracts total roughly $100 million, according to a senior
administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
describe internal deliberations. The contracts include executive
training for Department of Homeland Security officials, research on
health outcomes related to energy drinks and a contract for graduate
student research services.
Agencies with contracts that are deemed critical are being directed not
to halt them immediately, but to devise a plan to transition to a vendor
other than Harvard.
The letter applies only to federal contracts with Harvard and not its
remaining research grants.
Trump threatens to give Harvard's funding to trade schools
Trump laid into Harvard on social media over the weekend, threatening to
cut an additional $3 billion in federal grants and give it to trade
schools across the United States. He did not explain which grants he was
referring to or how they could be reallocated.
The president also accused Harvard of refusing to release the names of
its foreign students. In a new line of attack, he argued that students'
home countries pay nothing toward their education and that some of the
countries are “not at all friendly to the United States."
International students are not eligible for federal financial aid, but
Harvard offers its own aid to foreign and domestic students alike.
“We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that
we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS,
how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back
into our Country,” Trump said on social media.
It was not clear exactly what the president was referring to. The
federal government already has access to visa information and other
records on foreign students at Harvard and other universities.
The Department of Homeland Security has demanded that Harvard turn over
a trove of files related to its foreign students, including disciplinary
records and records related to “dangerous or violent activity.”
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Harvard University graduating senior Victor Flores claps while
listening to a fellow student speak at a protest against President
Donald Trump's recent sanctions against Harvard in front of Science
Center Plaza on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP
Photo/Leah Willingham)
Harvard says it complied, but the agency said its response fell
short and moved to revoke the university's ability to enroll foreign
students. A federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked the move
after Harvard sued.
Harvard rallies against Trump administration
Trump administration officials have said some of Harvard's
international students are promoting antisemitism on campus. But the
ban on international students has “nothing to do with combating
antisemitism,” said Jacob Miller, a former president of Harvard
Hillel, who is graduating this week with math and economics
concentrations.
“Antisemitism is a real problem. It’s a problem at Harvard. It’s a
problem in our country," Miller said Tuesday at a rally outside
Harvard Yard. "These policies will do nothing to combat this age-old
hatred. Instead, they are designed to divide us. ... The Jewish
community rejects this administration’s narrative. We will not allow
our identities to be invoked to destroy Harvard."
Harvard President Alan Garber earlier this month said the university
has made changes to its governance over the past year and a half,
including a broad strategy to combat antisemitism. He said Harvard
would not budge on its “its core, legally-protected principles” over
fears of retaliation.
Harvard's international students await further court rulings to find
out whether they can enroll in summer or fall classes. Some say
they're discussing backup plans.
The government's ban would not apply to students graduating this
week, such as Jemma Liu, a Chinese student who studied landscape
architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
“I hope the situation will resolve,” she said Tuesday. “We’ll have
to see what happens next. But I do feel a privilege that I can
actually graduate tomorrow.”
“What the international students are caught in right now is just a
limbo,” said Leo Gerdén, a graduating senior from Sweden.
Other nations respond
Japan's government said Tuesday that it's looking for ways to help
Harvard's foreign students. Education Minister Toshiko Abe told
reporters she planned to ask Japanese universities to compile
measures to support international students.
The University of Tokyo, Japan’s top school, is considering
temporarily accepting some Harvard students hit by the Trump
sanctions.
Universities in other countries have made similar moves, including
two in Hong Kong that recently extended invitations to Harvard
students.
On Harvard's campus, law student Carson Durdel said he was proud of
the university for standing up to Trump. He said intellectual
independence has historically made the United States strong.
“It’s the reason we are like a beacon for the rest of the world,” he
said. “I think that undermining those things, cutting those things
is not only a bad short-term view but a horrendous long-term view.”
___
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this
report.
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