Trump's Treatment of Harvard Illegal

We discussed this some when it first happened. Some people believed Trump's lies that it was due to Trump's concern for antisemitism. At the time the best evidence that it had nothing to do with antisemitism was the fact that attacking universities in this fashion was spelled out in detail in Project 2025. Antisemitism had absolutely nothing to do with it in the plan. The judge ruling mentions that antisemitism was a factor is BS. So folks that believed Trump's lie about antisemitism should learn that Trump is a liar and be more careful what they believe in the future.

Trump administration illegally froze billions in Harvard funds, judge rules
quote:
Burroughs said she found it "difficult to conclude anything other than that [the Trump administration] used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country's premier universities, and did so in a way that runs afoul of [federal law]."

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/03/nx-s1-5527314/trump-harvard-court-ruling-funding-boston

 

Will WH challenger this further? Will WH ignore the Judge?

On related issue
Northwestern University President Michael Schill said Thursday that he will resign.

https://apnews.com/article/northwestern-schill-resignation-trump-e2c8cb4042f8594c3c5b733730e32342

"Northwestern University President Michael Schill said Thursday that he will resign, ending a three-year tenure marked by the freeze of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding by the Trump administration and heated criticism from House Republicans over the university’s response to campus protests.

The funding freeze and uncertainty over its finances contributed to Northwestern’s decision to lay off around 200 people over the summer.

In a statement announcing his resignation, Schill acknowledged the pressure from the White House"

 

Yeah. Can't help but think, though, that Hahvahd already HAS an awful lot of untaxed income and a giant endowment. Hard to see why we should be giving them even more tax dollars

 

Harvard has historically received the most funding from foreign donors ($3.2 billion), followed by Cornell and Carnegie Mellon (which have each received $2.8 billion).

“The floodgates opened during the Biden era,” said NCRI’s co-founder Joel Finkelstein. “This isn’t just a financial issue—it’s a national security crisis. Hostile powers are buying influence on American campuses at an industrial scale.”

Here’s what the NCRI study found:

• Qatar is the largest source of foreign donations to U.S. universities since reporting began in 1986, with $6.3 billion coming from the gas-rich Gulf state.
• Germany ($3.3 billion) was the largest source of foreign funding over the last four years, followed by China ($2.3 billion), Qatar ($2 billion), and Saudi Arabia ($1.9 billion). Almost two-thirds of the money from Germany ($1.9 billion) went to the University of Pennsylvania, including $467 million in a settlement last fall after the university accused a German pharmaceutical firm of improperly licensing their vaccine technology.
  
  
• Qatari donations have ramped up significantly over the last four years. Nearly a third of donations from Qatar—over $2 billion—were given between 2021 and 2024.
  
  
  
• https://www.thefp.com/p/explosion-in-foreign-funding-for-american-universitie

 

The irony of MAGA adjacent people trying to demonize getting gifts from Quatar. Can't make it up. Quoting this, unironically? Wow wow wow wowwow.

 

Because we want things these funds are designated to buy? Maybe? Like, want to get a cure for cancer one day?
I still pay Amazon if I want a cheap product shipped fast, no matter how rich Bezos is. Now, I would judge people buying Teslas, but that's not because Musk is rich. It's because he's a Nazi.

 

The Trump administration announced a historic addition of nearly $500 million in federal funding to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs) for the fiscal year 2025. This funding boost represents a 48% increase for HBCUs and more than doubles the funding for tribal colleges. The one-time infusion is primarily funded by reallocating money from other federal grants, especially those designated for colleges with large Hispanic student populations and other minority-serving institutions, which the administration deemed unconstitutional or ineffective.

Key points about the funding initiative:

• HBCUs are expected to receive over $1.34 billion total in 2025, including the newly added $495 million.
  
  
• TCCUs will receive over $108 million, more than doubling their prior allocation.
  
  
• The reallocation came after cutting $350 million from minority-serving grant programs aimed at Hispanic-serving institutions.
  
  
• The Education Department under Secretary Linda McMahon stated the shift was to move funds "away from ineffective and discriminatory programs" and toward those promoting "merit and excellence."
  
  
• This funding shift also accompanies additional investments of $60 million for charter schools and $137 million for American history and civics programs.
  
  
• The administration emphasized redirecting resources as part of a broader agenda to prioritize its educational funding priorities and avoid racial or ethnic enrollment quotas in funding.
  

This marked a significant financial commitment to HBCUs during the Trump administration, aligning with President Trump's public stance on supporting these institutions while reshaping other minority-targeted educational funding policies.

 

Yeah. Guess so.

 

Ya, if Universities asked for a plane it would be okay, but funding for research, big no no.

 

It woul be more than okay. It would be smart. Biden could not get a free plane.

 

Elite U.S. universities are global centers for cutting-edge research—especially in fields like AI, biotechnology, engineering, and materials science.
Foreign funders can gain early access to breakthroughs, collaborations, and skilled students who may later work in government or industry.

Influence on Research Agenda.
Giving money enables influence—explicit or implicit—over research directions, faculty hiring, campus programs, and sometimes even public messaging. Critics worry these funds come attached with strings like suppressing criticism of the donor country or limiting topics like human rights or geopolitical issues.

a. Potential Espionage and IP Theft
There have been documented cases (especially involving China) where researchers or students are accused of stealing intellectual property or transferring technologies back to their home countries.
b. Legislation & Increased Scrutiny
U.S. lawmakers and policymakers are increasingly concerned about “malign foreign influence” in academia. New bills—like the SAFE Research Act and DETERRENT Act—aim to increase transparency, restrict certain collaborations, and close loopholes.
Executive orders (e.g., Trump administration measures) also impose stricter reporting requirements on foreign gifts and contracts.
c. Opaque Funding and Reporting Shortfalls
Many universities have reportedly failed to fully disclose large foreign gifts or contracts—even though federal law requires reporting anything above $250,000. Enforcement has been weak, leading to concern that the scale and terms of foreign funding aren’t well known.
d. Academic Freedom & Campus Culture
Funding might subtly influence what topics are studied or how issues are framed. Some worry that foreign donors—especially from countries with authoritarian regimes—may push for self-censorship or suppression of criticism.

 

1. I still can't believe a clear reference to a Qatari plane gifted to Trump just flies over your head.
2. Follow your own logic. Go ahead, follow it. If leading institutions get gifts from foreign governments, and Trump admin cuts grants (American federal money) to the very same institutions, does this diminish or boost foreign influence to these institutions? Let me know if you need a refresher on how fractions work to figure this one out. (as an aside - now try applying the same logic on the global scale to USAID).

I mean, it's less surprising now that you think supporting a political movement that flirts with white supremacists out of concern about antisemitism is a good idea. Maybe debate, logic and sound judgment are just not your thing.

 

After what was witnessed on campuses in 2023 and 2024, when surveys showed that more than 80% of Jewish students felt the need to hide their identities out of fear of harassment or physical harm, it is hard to argue that universities have handled this responsibly.

In my view, the failure of these institutions was enormous. At the same time, they were receiving hundreds of millions in Qatari funding, while anti-Israel and openly antisemitic rhetoric was proliferating unchecked in classrooms and student organizations. That is not a coincidence.

This is why I think these universities are now paying the price for their lack of accountability. We don’t need Qatari handouts.
These gestures have a bad taste to them, and they only highlight how foreign money can distort priorities and silence real oversight.

If you want to talk fractions: American federal grants cut while foreign money from Qatar flows in doesn’t reduce influence — it multiplies it. Less U.S. oversight + more foreign dependency = exactly the environment where anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitic hate were allowed to explode unchecked.

That’s the real math here. The universities failed their Jewish students, and now they’re paying the price. We don’t need Qatari “gifts,” whether it’s a plane or a donation. These handouts aren’t generosity; they’re leverage — and in this case, they leave a very bad taste.

At the end of the day, this is bigger than campus politics. It’s about whether our leading academic institutions remain independent — or whether they sell their credibility to foreign governments looking to buy influence.

 

...so, based on that, let's further empower a governing faction giving out Nazi-coded messages. What can go wrong?
(for the reference: "they're eating the dogs in Springfield", one of the things they got elected on, is so Nazi-coded local swastika-tattooing neo-Nazis came up with it first. Not to mention )

Memory test: what high government official recently and famously solicited a large Quatari handout?

Ooh, so close! One more logical step: WHO is cutting American federal grants to Harvard? You can use the linked article for reference.

 

Here's a little reality check. Lerner is NOT a typical Jew. He's an ultra radical far right conservative. He has a fervent belief in whatever he wants to believe despite almost any reality checks that might debunk those beliefs. Here's a poll that spells out what most Jews believe in this country on this topic. They know that Trump is just playing political games. I also note that the judge's recent ruling on Harvard said Trump was playing political games with his antisemitism nonsense against universities.

Most American Jews say Trump is using antisemitism as an 'excuse' to silence free speech at universities
September 17, 2025
quote:
Four out of ten American Jews say they have personally experienced antisemitism in the past two years, yet a majority disapprove of how the Trump administration has addressed the issue on college campuses, according to a new survey.

The study, conducted by the polling firm Impose in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Rochester, found that 72% of Jewish Americans are concerned about antisemitism on campus. However, nearly 60% disapprove of the Trump administration's decision to withhold federal funding from Harvard and UCLA for, it argues, failing to combat antisemitism on campus.

James Druckman, a political scientist at the University of Rochester who helped design the survey, said many respondents view the funding threats as a political maneuver.

"Three-fourths of the sample view the Trump administration as using antisemitism as an excuse," Druckman said.
...
On foreign policy, only 31% of Jewish Americans polled said they support Israel's military campaign in Gaza over the past two years, highlighting internal division on the topic.
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/17/nx-s1-5543212/study-most-american-jews-dont-agree-with-trumps-tactics-for-combating-antisemitism

 

The five steps to establishing a dictatorship:

1. Enemy/Emergency--gin up an excuse or a bogeyman to frighten people into submission
2. Consolidate Power--weaken institutions that either support the populace or could resist your absolute power
3. Self-Enrichment--get rich in the process
4. Stay in Power--no free elections or opposition to your rule
5. Join the Club--hook up with other dictators for mutual support

 

Wow, ultra blah, blah, blah. You just insulted the ultra alright wing people.


Im moderate or miled Concervative.

• According to the American Jewish Committee's 2025 State of Antisemitism in America report, 56% of American Jews changed their behavior over the last year due to fears of antisemitism, a significant increase from previous years.
• In EU it's 76%.

Campuses of universities provide all the evidence that a major falure on this subject.

 

Ain't nothing moderate about wholeheartedly supporting a fascist regime.

 

Your statement doesn't make any sense. The only way my post could be twisted into an insult against ultra right wing people is to say that putting you into that category was an insult to that larger group. Which was not my intent.