Report: Harvard and Trump admin circle toward deal amid multiple clashes
First came a social media post on Friday from President Donald Trump, boasting of a 'mindbogglingly HISTORIC' deal with Harvard University.
Later that day, the New York Times released an article citing numerous unnamed sources that talks had been progressing between Harvard and the Trump administration, and that some kind of a deal may indeed be coming.
Discussions resumed this week at a meeting in the White House, according to the Times. Harvard showed federal officials a PowerPoint presentation on how the university has addressed antisemitism, admissions and viewpoint diversity among faculty. The White House then sent Harvard a letter naming conditions the university could take that would resolve the conflict.
Harvard's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Two sources told the Times that a deal was unlikely to take shape within the next week.
The Times also reported that Harvard felt pressured to make a deal with the administration.
The Trump administration has taken a multi-pronged approach to bring Harvard to heel, cutting off or freezing billions in federal funding, attempting to stop Harvard from accepting foreign students, trying to end Harvard's tax-exempt status and listing demands that Harvard address antisemitism and a lack of viewpoint diversity among its faculty.
MassLive highlighted 10 Harvard researchers set to have their work terminated by Trump administration cuts.
The news of the potential deal came just hours after a federal judge once again blocked the Trump administration from preventing Harvard from accepting foreign students.
Some foreign students at Harvard University say they've become a bargaining chip in Trump's attacks on the school.
'It's part of a bigger battle between authoritarianism and democracy and we are kind of in the middle of it right now and we're the most recent victim,' Karl Molden, a rising junior Harvard student from Austria, told MassLive in May.
Some Harvard students, both foreign and those from the U.S., have said they are looking elsewhere to transfer amid the fight with the federal government. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology announced this month that it had offered acceptance to a Harvard student to transfer and that more applications awaited.
Harvard scholars have also considered leaving the United States and academia, as well, amid the cuts.
Along with the university's legal battle with the administration over international students, in April, the Trump administration demanded an overhaul of Harvard's leadership structure, admissions and hiring. If the university didn't comply, it risked losing $9 billion in funding, the federal government said.
The actions were taken in the name of antisemitism, as the Trump administration claimed Harvard failed to protect Jewish students, particularly in the wake of the war in Gaza.
The funding cuts sent a wave of resistance through higher education and Harvard rejected the administration's demands and set the stage for a historic showdown.
The school stated that the Trump administration looked to 'invade university freedoms long recognized by the Supreme Court.'
The federal government froze an initial $2.2 billion on April 14, a number that has only grown since.
On May 16, a wave of nearly 1,000 federal research grant terminations began, amounting to more than $2.4 billion, according to an analysis by Nature.
Next, the Trump administration said it would bar Harvard from acquiring new federal grants. And then just a few days later, eight federal agencies cut $450 million in grants, followed by the Department of Health and Human Services cutting $60 million.
All federal agencies were then ordered to cut off existing contracts with Harvard or transfer them to other vendors, according to a letter from the U.S. General Services Administration.
Harvard is engaged in a lawsuit with the administration after it froze $2.2 million in federal funding and has addressed the administration's claims that it has not done enough to combat antisemitism on its campus.
The funding cuts, according to Harvard, have threatened research that includes:
Breakthrough therapies to prevent and target a range of cancers
A new class of anesthetics for service members wounded on the field of battle
The potential to 'significantly cut' the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and strokes
Preventing new HIV infections
Tuberculosis
Vaccine safety and efficacy
MassLive reporters Juliet Schulman-Hall, Hadley Barndollar, Will Katcher and Ryan Mancini contributed to this article.
'Devastating': 10 Harvard researchers detail 'essential' work set to be cut by Trump
Trump says he's working on 'mindbogglingly HISTORIC' deal with Harvard
Federal judge halts Trump's plans to keep Harvard from enrolling foreign students
Harvard researcher's work gives 'hope' for Parkinson's. But the feds cut his funding
Read the original article on MassLive.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
19 minutes ago
Nestle says it will remove artificial dyes from US foods by 2026
Nestle said Wednesday it will eliminate artificial colors from its U.S. food and beverages by the middle of 2026. It's the latest big food company making that pledge. Last week, Kraft Heinz and General Mills said they would remove artificial dyes from their U.S. products by 2027. General Mills also said it plans to remove artificial dyes from its U.S. cereals and from all foods served in K-12 schools by the middle of 2026. The move has broad support. About two-thirds of Americans favor restricting or reformulating processed foods to remove ingredients like added sugar or dyes, according to an AP-NORC poll. Both California and West Virginia have recently banned artificial dyes in foods served in schools. On Sunday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed a bill requiring foods made with artificial dyes or additives to contain a new safety label starting in 2027. The label would say they contain ingredients 'not recommended for human consumption' in Australia, Canada, the European Union or the U.K. The federal government is also stepping up its scrutiny of artificial colors. In January, days before President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. regulators banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation's food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk. In April, Trump's Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would take steps to eliminate synthetic dyes by the end of 2026, largely by relying on voluntary efforts from the food industry. Nestle has pledged to remove artificial dyes before. Early in 2015, the company said it would remove artificial flavors and colors from its products by the end of that year. But the promise didn't hold. Nestle said Wednesday it's been removing synthetic dyes from its products over the last decade, and 90% of its U.S. portfolio doesn't contain them. Among those that do is Nesquik Banana Strawberry milk, which is made with Red 3. Nestle said Wednesday it wants to evolve with its U.S. customers' changing nutritional needs and preferences. 'Serving and delighting people is at the heart of everything we do and every decision that we make,' Nestle's U.S. CEO Marty Thompson said in a statement.
Politico
22 minutes ago
- Politico
Trump's war on the courts intensifies
Presented by Bayer Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond. Send tips | Subscribe | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben| Email Kyle President DONALD TRUMP's administration is in a full-blown war with the federal courts, with the fate of American governance on the line. That's the only way to read the increasingly confrontational, bare-knuckle tactics that the administration is deploying against the judiciary — and the steady, pointed resistance from judges. On Tuesday night, the Justice Department filed an unusual lawsuit against the entire bench of the federal district court in Maryland — where dozens of cases against the administration are pending — over a blanket, automatic two-day pause on deportations in cases brought by detained immigrants. A department spokesperson said the lawsuit was intended to 'rein in unlawful judicial overreach.' In an increasingly pointed Supreme Court showdown with immigration advocates, Solicitor General JOHN SAUER labeled a federal district judge's order reimposing restrictions on the deportation of eight men to South Sudan a 'lawless act of defiance.' Advocates for the men say the fight is even larger than their clients: It is about whether the high court will countenance the administration's defiance of the courts altogether. While the justices ruminate, skirmishes between the courts and the administration are proliferating and intensifying. In the most high-profile case of all, the criminal prosecution of KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA, a magistrate judge in Texas ripped the Justice Department for allegations that 'defy common sense' and relied on flimsy evidence. In another prominent legal showdown, a federal judge ordered the release of pro-Palestinian activist MAHMOUD KHALIL after determining that his continued detention was an unconstitutional attack on free speech. But even in cases that are off the national radar, judges are expressing shock and dismay at mass deportation tactics that stretch the bounds of the law and Constitution: The clearest distillation of this clash of co-equal branches comes in Trump's attempt to place a staunch loyalist onto the Philadelphia-based bench of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. After leading Trump's defense in three criminal cases, EMIL BOVE has become Trump's brashest Justice Department enforcer. He has directed purges of purportedly disloyal prosecutors and attacked the integrity of those who refused to follow orders to drop DOJ's corruption case against New York City Mayor ERIC ADAMS or who participated in the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. A day before Bove's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a former Justice Department attorney alleged that Bove spearheaded a drive to sidestep adverse court orders in crucial deportation cases. Those allegations were at the center of Democrats' questions today for Bove, who pledged to be an impartial interpreter of the law, despite his track record as a pro-Trump bulldog. Attorney General PAM BONDI, who will have a role in reviewing the whistleblower complaint against Bove, told senators today that she would 'run through a wall for Emil Bove.' And after testifying, she filed into the Senate Judiciary hearing room to catch the end of Bove's confirmation proceedings. Minutes after it ended, Bondi issued a statement slamming courts that had ruled against Trump, saying their orders were 'designed to halt his agenda.' But the courts so far seem undeterred. This afternoon, a judge rejected DOJ's argument to keep Abrego behind bars while he awaits trial on immigrant smuggling charges in Tennessee. The judge, WAVERLY CRENSHAW, JR., said DOJ's position — that DHS might deport Abrego if he is not detained on his criminal charges — 'defies logic,' since the Trump administration controls both agencies. 'If the Government finds this case to be as high priority as it argues here, it is incumbent upon it to ensure that Abrego is held accountable for the charges in the Indictment,' Crenshaw said. 'If the Department of Justice and DHS cannot do so, that speaks for itself.' MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at westwingtips@ Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe! POTUS PUZZLER Which former president was buried with a copy of the Constitution under his head? (Answer at bottom.) Knives Out LAKE MAKES HER CASE: KARI LAKE, senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, today defended the Trump administration's dismantling of the agency and its independent outlet Voice of America, where more than 600 full-time staffers received termination notices last week, telling the House Foreign Affairs committee that USAGM 'is not needed.' Democratic lawmakers questioned whether Lake was qualified to lead the agency due to her repeated false claims that Trump did not lose the 2020 presidential election and that she did not lose her own gubernatorial and Senate races in 2020 and 2024, respectively. 'I can't imagine how people fighting for democracy today around the world could trust someone who so shamelessly lied about her own election,' said Rep. GREG STANTON (D-Ariz.). One House Republican expressed concern related to the conflict between Israel and Iran, which prompted the agency's Farsi-language service to be hastily called back to work. 'I worry about the U.S. government's ability to win in the information domain during the next crisis, which could be just around the corner,' said Rep. YOUNG KIM (R-Calif.). Agenda Setting EVERY SINGLE STATE: Ahead of the Office of Management and Budget Director RUSS VOUGHT's testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee this afternoon on the $9.4 billion rescissions package, Vice Chair Sen. PATTY MURRAY (D-Wash.) released a map of the 1,500 local radio and TV stations that would lose funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Some Republicans including Sen. MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.) have raised concerns about public broadcasting cuts. 'UNNECESSARILY CHAOTIC': Sen. MITCH McCONNELL, the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, sharply criticized how the administration has executed its plan to root out government waste, our HASSAN ALI KANU writes in. 'There's plenty of absolute nonsense masquerading as American aid that shouldn't receive another bit of taxpayer funding, but the administration's attempt to root it out has been unnecessarily chaotic,' McConnell said to Vought. 'In critical corners of the globe, instead of creating efficiencies, you've created vacuums for adversaries like China to fill.' McConnell has been sharply critical of some of the Trump administration's foreign policy moves, chiefly on its handling of Ukraine. But his comments today raise new questions about his support for the administration's rescissions package. PAGING DR. CASSIDY: The newly formed vaccine advisory committee chosen by HHS Secretary ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. announced today that it would review childhood vaccines and shots not studied in more than seven years, our SOPHIE GARDNER and DAVID LIM report. The decision by the new group, tasked with reviewing the childhood immunization schedule, could open the door to changes on how and when children are vaccinated. The chair of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices said the committee would maintain existing working groups tasked with examining vaccines and that new work groups will also be established. MORE ON VACCINES: Kennedy announced today that the U.S. will withdraw financial support for Gavi, a global organization that helps purchase vaccines for children in poor countries, NYT's STEPHANIE NOLEN reports. Kennedy accused the group's leaders of having 'ignored the science' in immunizing children globally. Kennedy argued that Gavi's leaders had been selective in their use of science to support vaccine choices and said that the U.S. would not deliver on its $1.2 billion pledge to support the program until it changed its processes. Gavi's leaders rejected the suggestion that its vaccine purchases were driven by anything other than scientific evidence. In the Courts WIN FOR UNIONS: A federal judge in San Francisco today blocked Trump's executive order seeking to terminate the collective bargaining rights of workers whose unions have opposed and sued the administration, Hassan writes in. Judge JAMES DONATO's order restores the status and rights of about 950,000 federal workers at 21 agencies who are represented by the American Federation of Government Employees and four other unions, according to the AFGE. Trump sought to abruptly revoke collective bargaining rights from much of the public sector in March, relying on a law that allows agencies to be excluded from coverage if the president determines their primary function is national security work. But Donato held that the White House's own statements are fairly clear that at least part of the motivation is unlawful 1st Amendment retaliation. Trump's anti-union policies have survived a separate challenge before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which temporarily revived the executive order last month in a case brought by the National Treasury Employees Union. THE WHOLE GANG'S ON BOARD: Almost two dozen Democratic attorneys general are challenging the Trump administration's argument for cutting billions of dollars in federal grant funding for states and other recipients, POLITICO's E&E News' NIINA H. FARAH reports. The new lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts federal district court on Tuesday, is the latest challenge to the administration's 'slash-and-burn campaign' to freeze congressionally mandated funding for an array of programs. The lawsuit does not ask the federal court to restore canceled grant funding, unlike previous, pending challenges. Instead, it asks for a judge to weigh in on the administration's reliance on a clause in a 2020 regulation that says agencies can cancel grant funding that 'no longer effectuates … agency priorities.' WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT (BIG) BALLS TO THE WALL: The infamous EDWARD CORISTINE, the 19-year-old DOGE staffer known as 'Big Balls,' has left his government role, WIRED's JAKE LAHUT, MAKENA KELLY, VITTORIA ELLIOTT and ZOË SCHIFFER report. 'Edward Coristine resigned yesterday,' a White House official told WIRED. Coristine received full-time employment status at the General Services Administration late last month, but as of Tuesday, his Google Workspace account with GSA was no longer active. His name no longer appears on a White House contact list of current DOGE employees on the federal payroll maintained by a senior administration official. Coristine, according to another former DOGE staffer, 'was one of a small group of technologists who were highly trusted within DOGE and deployed across multiple federal agencies, and given multiple federal laptops,' WIRED writes. What We're Reading The Self-Deportation Psyop (The Atlantic's Nick Miroff) U.S. Textile Makers, Feeling Forgotten by Trump, Hope Boom Days Are Ahead (NYT's Alan Rappeport) A Military Ethics Professor Resigns in Protest (The Atlantic's Tom Nichols) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER Former President ANDREW JOHNSON was buried in 1875 with a copy of the Constitution under his head and his body wrapped in an American flag, according to the National Park Service.
New York Post
23 minutes ago
- New York Post
Wall Street bigshot who hired SBF 'defrauded' into funding South Sudan coup plot
Robert Granieri — the co-founder of trading firm Jane Street Group, which once gave jailed crypto titan Sam Bankman-Fried his big break in finance — was allegedly deceived into funding a plot to purchase AK-47s, Stinger missiles, and grenades for a coup in South Sudan, according to court papers. Federal prosecutors in Arizona first charged Harvard Fellow Peter Ajak and Abraham Keech in March 2024 with conspiring to illegally export arms to South Sudan, their home country, to overthrow its government. Both have pleaded not guilty. 6 Abraham Keech (left) and Peter Ajak (right) are accused of conspiring to illegally export arms to South Sudan. Both men deny the allegations. US District Court of Arizona Granieri, 53, allegedly provided $7 million in two payments after meeting Ajak in February 2024 at a Midtown Manhattan condominium, prosecutors said. Ajak's lawyers stated in a May court filing, which was reviewed by The Post and first reported by Bloomberg, that Granieri's financing was 'vital to the plan.' They claimed in the May 29 court document that without his support, the alleged conspiracy would have been impossible. The attorney for the Jane Street founder, whose firm hired now-convicted fraudster and former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried in 2013, claimed he was misled by Ajak, whom he believed was a human rights activist. 'Granieri is a longtime supporter of human rights causes,' his lawyer was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. 'In this case, the person Rob thought was a human rights activist defrauded Rob and lied about his intentions.' 6 Jailed fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried got his big break on Wall Street in 2013 with Granieri's firm, Jane Street. REUTERS The case also references chess champion Garry Kasparov, though he is not named as a defendant nor accused of any wrongdoing, for allegedly connecting Ajak with Granieri through their shared work with the Human Rights Foundation. Ajak, a former child soldier who resettled in the US, studied at Harvard's Kennedy School and worked as a World Bank economist before becoming a South Sudanese opposition activist. He and Keech allegedly met with an undercover agent and inspected weapons in a Phoenix warehouse before their arrest, the May 29 motion said. 6 South Sudan, slightly larger than France, became the world's youngest country in 2011 after seceding from Sudan following more than 20 years of civil war. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images 6 A DOJ handout that shows some of the weapons that were allegedly set to be sent to the fledging, war-torn African nation. US District Court of Arizona Defense attorneys allege US authorities were aware of the plan, citing a 'public authority' defense and claiming that the State Department told Ajak in October 2023 it would not support non-democratic regime change. They also accused prosecutors of selectively targeting Ajak and Keech, both black men, while sparing Granieri and Kasparov. The financing was allegedly arranged through meetings, including some at the law firm Paul Hastings, where Ajak's former pro bono attorney, Renata Parras, worked, according to the May filing. 6 The court documents allege that Garry Kasparov, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, helped facilitate introductions on Granieri's behalf. REUTERS PR guru Michael Holtzman, who previously advised the State Department, also attended some meetings, the filing claims. Prosecutors have not accused Parras or Holtzman of any wrongdoing. The Post has approached Holtzman and Parras for comment. South Sudan, slightly larger than France, became the world's youngest country in 2011 after seceding from Sudan following more than 20 years of civil war. The conflict displaced millions of people and drew attention from human rights activists across the globe, including actor George Clooney. 6 An estimated 400,000 people have died in the conflict in South Sudan since 2013, according to human rights groups. AP Despite its independence, South Sudan has struggled with continued violence between rival forces over the past 15 years. Jane Street, known for its $20.5 billion in net trading revenue last year, has drawn attention for its success and Granieri's philanthropy, including support for human rights causes and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Granieri, one of the firm's four founders and the only one still working there, also supported causes backed by Kasparov. Despite the company's prominence, he maintains a low profile and is not featured on its website. Jane Street is a quantitative trading firm, meaning its traders use mathematics and statistics to determine how to bet on certain assets or financial markets. It boasts to be 'a firm of puzzle solvers on and off the clock' and has even seen its profits surpass those of major banks such as Bank of America or Citigroup, allowing Granieri to fund ventures like the Scarlet Pearl casino resort in Mississippi.
