Trump says he's revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status: 'It's what they deserve!'
Trump says he's revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status: 'It's what they deserve!'
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Harvard protests Trump's threats to international students
Harvard students and staff push back against Trump administration threats.
Aljazeera
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump said he is taking action to remove the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, escalating his fight with one of the country's most prestigious universities.
"We are going to be taking away Harvard's Tax Exempt Status. It's what they deserve!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social on the morning of May 2.
The move to use executive power to revoke Harvard's tax-free designation ‒ a status held by the vast majority of U.S. colleges and universities ‒ is expected to be challenged in federal court. The Internal Revenue Service grants federal tax exemptions in accordance with federal law.
More: Harvard vs. Trump: What to know about the standoff costing the university billions
Trump, who had previously threatened targeting Harvard's tax-exempt status, has accused Harvard of being an "anti-Semitic, far-left Institution."
His administration in April said it is freezing more than $2 billion in federal funding for the Ivy League school after Harvard leaders said they would not agree to a list of Trump administration demands, which included a mask ban and removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Harvard responded by suing the Trump administration, accusing it of unlawfully threatening the school's "academic independence" and "pathbreaking research."
More: Harvard sues Trump administration over attacks on school funding
Trump has increasingly made the elite university a go-to punching bag. "It is clear to see the next chapter of the American Story will not be written by the Harvard Crimson," Trump told graduates of the University of Alabama on May 1, referencing the name of Harvard's college newspaper. "It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide."
Similar to many other nonprofit colleges, Harvard is exempt from federal and state income taxes. The president doesn't necessarily have the unilateral authority to revoke an organization's tax-exempt status, but there are processes by which the Internal Revenue Service can rescind nonprofit status. A bill introduced in Congress last year would give the president and Treasury secretary more latitude to target colleges' tax exemptions.
"There is no legal basis to rescind Harvard's tax-exempt status," Harvard spokesman Jason Newton said in an April statement. "The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America."
Contributing: Zach Schermele. Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
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