President Donald Trump is suggesting that Harvard University should lose its tax-exempt status and be taxed as a political entity after the school rejected demands from his administration.
He posted the idea on Truth Social Tuesday morning:
Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting “Sickness?” Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!
Trump's administration said Monday that it would freeze more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard after the university defied demands to limit activism on campus, make broad leadership reforms, "merit-based" admissions and hiring policies, and conduct an audit of the student body, faculty, and leadership on their views about diversity.
In rejecting the demands, Harvard President Alan Garber said in a message to the university community: "No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue."
This report contains material from Reuters.