Trump says his administration is close to reaching a deal with Harvard
University
[October 01, 2025]
BY COLLIN BINKLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his
administration is close to reaching a deal with Harvard University,
which it has targeted with a series of investigations and billions of
dollars in funding cuts as it presses for changes to its policies and
governance.
A truce with the country's oldest and wealthiest college would end a
clash that has tested the independence of America’s colleges.
Trump came into office saying he would cut funding for schools that
defied his agenda, vowing to eliminate “wokeness.” His pressure campaign
zeroed in on the Ivy League institution after it rebuffed his demands.
Trump initially said a deal had been reached but then said officials
were “close to finalizing” the agreement. “We haven’t done it yet,” he
said at the White House.
Trump said the agreement includes a $500 million payment from Harvard
that would be used to create “a giant trade school, a series of trade
schools that would be run by Harvard.” Trump described it as an
investment to revive trade schools and produce workers for American
plants.
“They’re going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other
things,” Trump said.
Harvard and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
A deal would open the door to a resolution of sanctions that have
included cuts to more than $2.6 billion in Harvard’s research grants,
losses of federal contracts, and efforts to cut off the school’s ability
to enroll foreign students.
Trump's administration has accused Harvard of tolerating antisemitism,
particularly during last year’s protests over the Israel-Hamas war. In a
letter to Harvard, federal officials said the campus was “overrun by an
impermissible, multiweek encampment” that left Jewish and Israeli
students fearful and disrupted their studies.
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Two women walk through a gate from Harvard Yard at Harvard
University, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP
Photo/Charles Krupa)
Harvard President Alan Garber has acknowledged problems with
antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias on campus, but said Harvard has
taken strides to fight prejudice.
Earlier this month, a federal judge in Boston ordered the Trump
administration to reverse the cuts to research funding, ruling the
cuts amounted to illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection of the
administration’s demands. The government had tied the funding
freezes to Harvard’s handling of antisemitism allegations, but the
judge said the university’s federally backed research had little
connection to discrimination against Jews.
Harvard in April became the first university to openly defy the
administration's sweeping demands, sparking an escalating fight with
mounting sanctions from the administration.
Even as Harvard fought the White House in court, both sides had been
meeting to negotiate a resolution to the impasse. Trump has
previously signaled that a deal with Harvard was close only to see
weeks pass with no resolution to the standoff.
Some faculty have urged against any deal with the White House,
saying it would cede independence to a government that has
overstepped its bounds.
The administration previously reached settlement agreements with
Columbia and Brown universities to resolve civil rights
investigations and restore their federal research funding.
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