Latest news with #Trump-focused
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Donald Trump or Barron Trump, who was actually rejected by Harvard? Here's what we know so far
Did Donald Trump or Barron Trump face Harvard rejection? (Getty Images) Speculation has swirled in recent months over whether US President Donald Trump's animosity toward Harvard University is rooted in a personal rejection. Social media users have suggested that the supposed grudge stems from his son, Barron Trump, being denied admission. However, author and journalist Michael Wolff has presented a different theory, claiming that it was Donald Trump himself who was rejected by the Ivy League institution in the 1960s. The debate resurfaced following a string of aggressive moves by the Trump administration against Harvard. The White House has frozen federal funding to the university, suspended its ability to enroll international students, and demanded reforms related to reported antisemitism. Amid this crackdown, questions about the origin of Trump's apparent hostility toward Harvard have reignited. Michael Wolff's claim and Trump's denial According to Michael Wolff, author of several Trump-focused books including Fire and Fury and All or Nothing , the president's antagonism toward elite universities—especially Harvard—may be personal. In an interview with The Daily Beast Podcast , Wolff said, "He didn't get into Harvard. So one of the Trump things is always holding a grudge against the Ivy League." Wolff also suggested that Trump's "TV star instincts as a producer" shape his confrontational strategy. "He picks fantastic enemies. And Harvard, for all it represents, fits right into the Trump show," Wolff was quoted as saying by The Daily Beast . by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo However, President Trump strongly denied Wolff's claim in a post on Truth Social , stating, "That story is totally FALSE, I never applied to Harvard. I graduated from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania." Trump went on to criticize Wolff personally, calling him a "Third Rate Reporter" and accusing him of promoting false narratives because his books "bombed." As reported by Truth Social , Trump claimed, "He is upset because his book about me was a total 'BOMB.' Nobody wanted it, because his 'reporting' and reputation is so bad!" No official record of Harvard application There is no confirmed evidence—public or private—that Donald Trump ever applied to Harvard University. Trump attended New York Military Academy and then enrolled at Fordham University in 1964. After two years, he transferred to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in economics. No published biographies or official documents have indicated any attempt by Trump to apply to Harvard. Similarly, no verified reports support the rumor that Barron Trump was rejected by Harvard. The speculation surrounding Barron remains unsubstantiated and appears to be based purely on social media conjecture. Barron Trump's educational path Barron Trump, the youngest son of Donald Trump and Melania Trump, has taken a different academic route. After graduating from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach in May 2024, he enrolled at New York University's (NYU) Stern School of Business in September 2024. Despite his father's contentious relationship with certain academic institutions, Barron chose NYU for its academic reputation and proximity to Trump Tower . Reports indicate that Barron maintains a low profile on campus, often seen entering and exiting buildings accompanied by Secret Service agents. He reportedly socializes through video games like FIFA, keeping a distance from the public eye . The Harvard-Trump standoff intensifies Since beginning his second term in office, President Trump has increased pressure on Ivy League institutions. The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard. Shortly after, a letter from the White House demanded that the university meet certain conditions or risk further penalties. According to the letter, Harvard could restore its ability to enroll international students only if it complied within 72 hours. The university refused and later denounced the move as "unlawful," as reported by Harvard University officials. Adding to the tension, the administration recently directed US consular missions abroad to apply stricter vetting procedures for visa applicants intending to study at Harvard. The verdict remains unclear Despite Wolff's provocative theory, there is no verifiable proof that either Donald or Barron Trump was rejected by Harvard University. The president's denial remains the only on-record statement regarding the claim. As it stands, the notion that a Harvard rejection influenced Trump's policies appears speculative, with no supporting documentation available. The true motivation behind the president's ongoing clash with Harvard may remain a matter of interpretation—whether rooted in personal history or political strategy. Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pulitzers Stick it to Bezos By Awarding Cartoonist Who Lampooned Him
The Pulitzer Prize board rebuked billionaire Jeff Bezos on Monday by awarding the Pulitzer for illustrated reporting and commentary to the former Washington Post cartoonist who quit the paper after her cartoon was scrapped. Ann Telnaes won the award, considered the highest honor in journalism, four months after she revealed that a cartoon showing Bezos and other tech billionaires genuflecting to Donald Trump was killed by the newspaper's then-opinions editor David Shipley. The Pulitzer board commended Telnaes for 'delivering piercing commentary on powerful people and institutions with deftness, creativity – and a fearlessness that led to her departure from the news organization after 17 years.' The award recognized largely Trump-focused cartoons from throughout last year. Telnaes did not respond to an immediate request for comment. The award comes as the Post has gone through months of turmoil over Bezos' machinations, which has seen top reporters, columnists, and editors leave. Telnaes wrote in January that the decision to kill her cartoon, which she attributed to its point of view, was a 'game changer' that was 'dangerous for a free press.' The decision ended her 17-year tenure at the paper, which she joined in 2008. Shipley said in January that the decision stemmed solely from a desire to avoid 'repetition,' as the paper had already published and commissioned multiple pieces on the subject. Shipley left the Post in February after Bezos sought to refocus the section on 'free markets and personal liberties,' a decision Shipley opposed. The paper is currently searching for a new opinions editor. The award is Telnaes' second Pulitzer after first winning for her editorial cartoons in 2001. The Post also won a Pulitzer on Monday for its coverage of the July assassination attempt of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and was a finalist for its coverage of Hurricane Helene and Israel's deadly actions in Gaza. The Pulitzers are distributed annually by Columbia University and a board that includes top editors from the Boston Globe, The New Yorker, and Semafor. Trump has been locked in a lawsuit with the Pulitzer Prize Board over its 2018 awards to The New York Times and the Post for their coverage about Russian influence in the 2016 election, which the board affirmed in 2022. Trump claimed the board's affirmation was defamatory.
The Guardian
21-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner refused to sign memo saying Trump was not antisemitic, book says
Donald Trump's Jewish daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, refused to sign a statement saying Trump was not antisemitic, according to a new book by veteran Trump tell-all author Michael Wolff. 'As he kept seeming to be incapable of offering absolute support for Israel in the wake of October 7,' Wolff writes, referring to the deadly 2023 attacks by Hamas, 'Trump, not for the first time, turned to Jared for Jewish cover, explicitly asking him and Ivanka for a public endorsement. 'As Trump had continued to waffle, the Washington Post, the campaign understood, was working on a piece that would recycle all the language Trump had variously used over the years, which, on its face, might certainly sound antisemitic. Kushner kept dodging on the formal endorsement of his father-in-law. The campaign then tried to settle for merely a statement from him that his father-in-law was not antisemitic.' According to Wolff, Kushner finally said: 'No, Ivanka and I aren't going to do that. We're not going to go and put our names on something and get in the middle of things. That's just not what we're going to do this time.' Kushner and Ivanka Trump were senior advisers to Trump during his first presidency, from 2017 to 2021. But they kept their distance after his attempt to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat to Joe Biden culminated in his supporters' January 6 attack on Congress. The couple have not taken up roles in his second administration after he won back the presidency in November at the expense of former vice-president Kamala Harris, though Kushner has been linked to Trump's controversial plans to depopulate and redevelop the Gaza strip after Israel's relentless assault in response to 7 October. Wolff's book, All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America, is his fourth on the president. The new volume was formally confirmed this week, shortly ahead of its US publication on Tuesday. The Guardian obtained a copy. Wolff's first Trump book, Fire and Fury, was released in 2018 and sold millions as Trump tried to block it, kicking off a lucrative rush of Trump-focused books that has shown new signs of life since he won re-election. Wolff followed Fire and Fury with Siege and Landslide. Excerpts from All or Nothing have been published in Vanity Fair and the Daily Beast, the latter detailing what Wolff claims is Melania Trump's 'hatred' for her husband. Announcing All or Nothing, publisher Crown said: 'Wolff's thesis in his 18 months of covering the campaign was that the establishment would destroy Trump, or Trump would destroy the establishment. All or Nothing is Wolff's panoramic and intimate picture of that battle … from indictments, to trials, to assassination attempts, to the humiliation and defenestration of a sitting president, to Trump's staggering victory.' Last November, as Wolff wrote the book, a group of Trump aides including chief of staff Susie Wiles said: 'A number of us have received inquiries from the disgraced author Michael Wolff, whose previous work can only be described as fiction. He is a known peddler of fake news who routinely concocts situations, conversations, and conclusions that never happened. As a group, we have decided not to respond to his bad faith inquiries, and we encourage others to completely disregard whatever nonsense he eventually publishes. Consider this our blanket response to whatever he writes.' On Friday, Trump White House communications director Steven Cheung told the Beast: 'Michael Wolff is a lying sack of shit and has been proven to be a fraud. 'He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain.' Among other moments in All or Nothing sure to be widely discussed, Wolff reports that Trump demanded to know 'what the fuck is wrong with' Elon Musk, the world's richest person who became a key campaign backer, and called JD Vance, the vice-presidential pick over whom Wolff says Trump had grave doubts, 'shifty, very shifty'. Describing a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in October, where Trump survived an assassination attempt in July, Wolff writes: 'And Elon is here, waiting when [Trump's team] arrive[s], which is cause for a moment of consternation … Elon! Next only to Trump, there is Elon.' Saying aides viewed Musk as 'a new, overwhelming, and discordant presence in the campaign', generating 'an ever-rising tide of bewildering, if not opaque, requests, orders, and recommendations', Wolff said aides thought Musk had 'elevated the Trump campaign in his own mind to a personal mission and religious cause', while 'the Trump circle' was 'already anticipating the earth shaking when he and Trump invariably f[e]ll out. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'When they arrive, Elon – wandering about by himself, with only a thin layer of assistants or security – is hungry. This causes a kerfuffle and results in uncertainty over how to attend to him. Someone produces a bag of pretzel sticks. 'The suggestion is made that JD is here and would love to speak to him. Musk, sitting down and eating his pretzel sticks, politely declines: 'I've really no interest in speaking to a vice-president.' 'Later, called onstage, with no one having any idea what he might say, Musk bounds up and, suddenly – in Mick Jagger style, prancing and jumping-becomes the headline, his T-shirt rising far above his midriff. 'What the fuck is wrong with this guy?' says a bewildered Trump. 'And why doesn't his shirt fit?' Elsewhere, Wolff describes Trump's extensive second thoughts about Vance, in one instance reportedly described in a phone conversation with an unnamed confidant. 'Yeah. What the fuck is with that name-change stuff?' Trump is depicted as saying. 'How many name changes has he had? That's shifty, that's very shifty. That's my staff fucking up. They know what I think about people changing their names. I think it's shifty. And they didn't tell me.' Vance was born James Donald Bowman. After his parents split up he was adopted by his new stepfather and renamed James David Hamel. Long known as 'J.D.', he later changed to his surname to Vance, after the beloved grandmother of whom he writes in Hillbilly Elegy, his bestselling book from 2016. He eventually dropped the periods, to become 'JD'.
