Trump unlawfully cancelled $2.2bn in Harvard research grants, judge rules

"A federal judge on Wednesday ruled Donald Trump's administration unlawfully terminated about $2.2bn in grants awarded to Harvard University and can no longer cut off research funding to the Ivy League school. The decision by US district judge Allison Burroughs in Boston marked a major legal victory for Harvard as it seeks to cut a deal that could bring an end to the White House's multi-front conflict with the country's oldest and richest university."

"The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school became a central focus of the administration's broad campaign to leverage federal funding to force change at US universities, which Trump says are gripped by antisemitic and radical left ideologies. Three other Ivy League schools struck deals with the administration, including Columbia University, which in July agreed to pay more than $220m to restore federal research money that had been nixed because of allegations the university allowed antisemitism to fester on campus."

"As with Columbia, the Trump administration took actions against Harvard related to the pro-Palestinian protest movement that roiled its campus and other universities after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's war on Gaza. Trump during a 26 August cabinet meeting demanded Harvard pay nothing less than $500m as part of a settlement. They've been very bad, he told education secretary, Linda McMahon. Don't negotiate."

A federal judge in Boston found the Trump administration unlawfully terminated about $2.2bn in research grants to Harvard and barred further cuts to its federal funding. The ruling by US district judge Allison Burroughs represents a legal victory for Harvard as the university pursues a settlement to end the White House's multi-front conflict with the school. The administration pursued reductions as part of a campaign to leverage federal funding to force changes at US universities amid claimed antisemitic and radical-left influences. The administration cancelled hundreds of grants, threatened accreditation, sought restrictions on international students, and targeted Harvard over pro-Palestinian campus protests after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack. Other Ivy League schools, including Columbia, reached settlements to restore funding.

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