Melania denies rumors of ‘real reason’ Trump is slamming Harvard

Rumors were floated that Trump was pulling billions in Federal funding out of spite rather than due to antisemitism on campus.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

US First Lady Melania Trump denied on Tuesday that her son had been rejected by Harvard, in an effort to put to bed rumors that her husband was pulling billions in federal funding from the Ivy League school out of spite rather than due to its laxness about antisemitism on campus.

“Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false,” Nick Clemens, spokesperson for the Office of the First Lady, said in an emailed statement to The Palm Beach Post daily newspaper.

Barron Trump, 19, has just completed his freshman year at New York University.

The Trump administration has taken powerful steps to pressure Harvard to deal with campus antisemitism.

In March, all $9 billion in federal funding to the school was put under review.

In April, the federal Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism froze over $2.2 billion, demanding reforms in policies ranging from hiring of staff, admissions, student activities and academic governance.

“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity,” Trump posted to his Truth Social outlet at the time.

The school subsequently took the administration to court over the cut, and the case is pending.

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security tried revoking Harvard’s foreign student program on the basis that it is allowing in “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators.”

A federal judge froze the order, which would considerably damage Harvard’s income as over a quarter of the student body (27%) comes from abroad.

Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell told Fox TV News that the administration is willing to go all the way to the Supreme Court on this case because the president is “going to eliminate” antisemitism.

In the latest broadside against the school, Trump said on Monday that he was considering “taking away $3 billion in Federal grant money from a very antisemitic Harvard” and giving it instead to trade schools that need the money very badly.

The administration has targeted most of the country’s elite universities for their allegedly discriminatory practices in not protecting Jewish students from rampant antisemitism.

These students have been threatened, harassed, and even physically assaulted on campus by anti-Israel students and non-student agitators allowed onto school grounds.

A recent Anti-Defamation League survey found that a whopping 83% of Jewish students have experienced or witnessed some form of antisemitism since October 7, 2023, when Hamas sparked war with Israel.

In addition, almost one-third (32%) of them reported feeling that faculty on their campuses have promoted antisemitism or learning environments hostile to Jews.

Harvard reported in fiscal year 2024 that it had $6.4 billion in operating expenses, so such federal cuts, even if they are spread out over multiple years, could have a huge effect on the school.

It could also choose to dip into its $53 billion endowment fund, which is the largest such fund in the world.