Trump seeks $1b in damages from Harvard over ‘Woke’ ideology

President Donald Trump announced late Monday that his administration is pursuing $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, escalating a months-long standoff between the federal government and the Ivy League institution over campus policies and ideology.

“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.

The announcement came hours after The New York Times reported that the administration had dropped its earlier demand for a $200 million settlement payment from Harvard, suggesting negotiations had reached an impasse.

Trump officials have accused Harvard and other colleges of promoting so-called “woke” ideology while failing to sufficiently protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests, filing legal complaints and demanding exorbitant payouts.

Harvard has been a central focus of the administration’s broad campaign to leverage federal funding to force change at U.S. universities, which Trump says are gripped by antisemitic and “radical left” ideologies.

The dispute began last year when the administration froze billions in research funding and tried to block Harvard from enrolling international students. Harvard responded by filing lawsuits and securing temporary court orders against the government’s actions. The government is currently appealing those decisions, while settlement negotiations have been ongoing for several months.

In September, a federal judge ruled that the administration violated the law when it cancelled research grants worth more than $2.2 billion to Harvard.

Despite the legal setback, the Trump administration has continued pressuring elite universities through various mechanisms, with critics characterizing the effort as a political pressure campaign targeting liberal institutions.

Fellow Ivy League institution Columbia University agreed to pay the Trump administration $200 million last summer and pledged to obey rules that bar it from taking race into consideration in admissions or hiring.

Three other Ivy League schools—Columbia, Penn and Brown reached deals with the administration to preserve their funding.

Harvard, however, has not reached an agreement, making it the most prominent holdout among elite universities facing federal pressure.

Harvard University had not responded to requests for comment as of Monday evening.

The president did not specify in his Truth Social posts what specific damages Harvard allegedly caused to warrant the $1 billion claim, nor did he clarify the legal mechanism through which the administration would pursue such payment.

The standoff represents one of the most significant confrontations between the federal government and higher education institutions in recent memory, with billions of dollars in research funding and the autonomy of elite universities hanging in the balance.