US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status, demanding an apology from the university, a day after it rejected what it called unlawful demands to overhaul academic programs or lose federal grants.
The Trump's administration, starting with Columbia University, has rebuked universities across the country over their handling of the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled campuses last year following the 2023 Hamas-led attack inside Israel and the subsequent Israeli attacks on Gaza.
The president has described the protests as anti-American and antisemitic, accusing universities of peddling Marxism and radical left ideology, and promised to end federal grants and contracts to universities that do not agree to his administration's demands.
In a post on social media on Tuesday, the Republican said he was planning whether to seek to end Harvard's tax-exempt status if it continued pushing what he called "political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting sickness.
He, however, did not say how he would do that.
Under the US tax code, most universities are exempted from federal income tax because they are deemed to be operated exclusively for public educational purposes.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump wanted to see Harvard apologize for what she called "antisemitism that took place on their college campus against Jewish American students."
Leavitt accused Harvard and other schools of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination by recipients of federal funding based on race or national origin.
Under Title VI, federal funds can be terminated only after a lengthy investigation and hearings as well as a 30-day notice to Congress, which has not happened at Columbia or Harvard.
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