A federal immigration judge on Wednesday ordered the deportation of Mohsen Mahdawi, an anti-Israel activist and Columbia University graduate who has become a target of the Trump administration&#8217;s crackdown on foreign students accused of supporting terrorist organizations. 
Mahdawi, a Vermont resident originally from the Judea and Samaria area, was ordered removed to Jordan after abandoning his asylum claim, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/10/mohsen-mahdawi-columbia-deportation-00957506?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">according to Politico.</a> He has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. 
The activist first drew national attention in March 2025 when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him during a citizenship interview.
Two weeks later, a district court judge released Mahdawi. In February 2026, his deportation case was dismissed, but the federal government appealed the decision.
In April, the Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated removal proceedings against Mahdawi, according to a letter from his attorneys <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca2.9122336d-3eb3-4022-aba2-4f11ea8a7dfd/gov.uscourts.ca2.9122336d-3eb3-4022-aba2-4f11ea8a7dfd.232.0.pdf">obtained by Politico.</a> After Mahdawi abandoned his asylum claim, an immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Trump administration argued that Mahdawi&#8217;s activism was “<a href="https://www.mynbc5.com/article/mohsen-mahdawi-appeals-deportation/71550841">harmful to U.S. foreign policy.”</a>
Mahdawi attended Columbia University, where he co-founded the Palestinian Student Union with Mahmoud Khalil, another anti-Israel activist detained and facing deportation, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/10/mohsen-mahdawi-columbia-deportation-00957506?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">according to Politico. </a>
&#8220;I come from a refugee camp in Palestine, where my family still resides. I know what it means to live without rights, without voice, without safety. America was the first place I ever felt true freedom and dignity,” Mahdawi <a href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/mohsen-mahdawi-appeals-retaliatory-ruling-from-board-of-immigration-appeals-to-federal-appeals-court">said in a statement.</a> 
“For over a decade, I have built my life here, loved this community, and chosen this country&#8217;s ideals as my own. When a government weaponizes immigration to punish speech, millions of immigrants and citizens feel that blow,” he added. 
Mahdawi&#8217;s detention was part of a broader Trump administration effort targeting foreign college students accused of expressing support for designated terrorist organizations. The State Department has also revoked thousands of student visas.
The administration is separately pursuing the deportation of Khalil.
“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” then-DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anti-israel-activist-detained-by-ice-led-activities-aligned-to-hamas-trumps-dhs-says">announced</a> last year.
“It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And if you are pushing propaganda that relishes the killings of Americans or promotes terrorists, the door’s that way.”
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Pro-Palestinian Protests Continue At Columbia University

Columbia Anti-Israel Activist Ordered Deported

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Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil has lost a bid to have his deportation case thrown out.
An immigration appeals board issued a final order of removal Thursday, according to the Associated Press, citing Khalil&#8217;s legal team.
Khalil called the ruling &#8220;biased and politically motivated,&#8221; adding that he wasn&#8217;t surprised by the decision, the outlet reported. His attorneys said he is still pursuing a separate case in federal court and cannot yet be detained or deported.
“I have committed no crime. I have broken no law,&#8221; Khalil said in a statement. &#8220;The only thing I am guilty of is speaking out against the genocide in Palestine — and this administration has weaponized the immigration system to punish me for it.”
Khalil, a green card holder from Syria who is of Palestinian descent, was nabbed by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dhs-prepares-to-deport-anti-israel-activist-mahmoud-khalil-to-algeria">Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)</a> in March 2025 after helping lead anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anti-israel-activist-detained-by-ice-led-activities-aligned-to-hamas-trumps-dhs-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the time that his activities were “aligned to Hamas.”
<div id="attachment_1075573" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1075573" class="size-medium wp-image-1075573" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />(Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)</div>
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Khalil&#8217;s “presence or activities would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest&#8221; and pledged to strip the immigration status of foreigners deemed to be &#8220;Hamas supporters.&#8221;
“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Rubio said on X.
A federal judge in New Jersey ordered Khalil&#8217;s release from ICE detention in June.
Following Thursday&#8217;s ruling, Khalil&#8217;s lead attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, slammed the Trump administration, accusing it of exerting undue influence over immigration courts, which he argued have sided less with noncitizens.
“In all my decades as an immigration lawyer, I have never seen such a baseless and politically motivated decision,&#8221; Van Der Hout said. &#8220;The BIA’s decision has absolutely no support in the record, violates a federal court order, and we’ll be fighting it until the end.”
“Federal courts have already agreed that Mahmoud was targeted for his speech, and there is likely much more evidence of the government’s unlawful retaliation that has yet to come to light. This is a clear continuation of the administration’s retaliation against Mahmoud for exercising his First Amendment rights,&#8221; Khalil&#8217;s lawyer added.
Former ICE Deputy Field Office Director Scott Mechkowski also weighed in, <a href="https://x.com/JennieSTaer/status/2042610875291291792" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writing</a> on X that Khalil&#8217;s case &#8220;is an example of how the Immigration System is &#8216;Broken&#8217;!,&#8221; adding &#8220;This guy should have been removed years ago, but attorneys just keep trying to game the system. Time to deport him already!&#8221;

Featured Session: The Guardian in Conversation with Mahmoud Khalil on the Cost of Dissent

Trump Admin Inches Closer To Deporting Mahmoud Khalil

Mahmoud Khalil

Last week, my home state of Michigan witnessed something truly terrifying: a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-respond-to-reports-of-active-shooter-as-michigan-synagogue-goes-up-in-smoke">terrorist attack</a> at a house of worship. The attacker drove a vehicle filled with explosives into a synagogue in West Bloomfield, a suburb of Detroit, just a few hours outside of my district.
Thankfully, on-site security personnel quickly intervened — stopping the terrorist and preventing any injury to the innocent children or staff inside. I am grateful to these guardians for responding quickly to safeguard those innocent lives, and I pray for the recovery of those injured in stopping this despicable attack.
This attack, however, isn’t an isolated incident. It is part of a broader and deeply troubling rise in antisemitism that has spread across our country since the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel.
Nowhere is that rise more evident than on our college campuses.
Students have been whipped into an activist frenzy targeting Israel and the Jewish people.
Rather than stamping out the antisemitic fervor, faculty are fanning the flames. Many campus leaders seem completely unwilling to do anything about it.
<div id="attachment_1062451" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1062451" class="size-large wp-image-1062451" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442-864x576.jpg" alt="TOPSHOT - Pro-Palestinian protesters, some wearing cap and gown, hold signs and chant at a rally in front of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 28, 2024. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images</div>
On campuses across the nation — regardless of size or location — student groups are organizing to harass and intimidate Jewish students. Groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) are the ringleaders, often with the backing of similar faculty organizations.
At Columbia University, antisemitic demonstrators stormed a library, disrupted students, and chanted slogans like “from the river to the sea.” Eden Yadegar, my guest to President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress last year, described it as “disrupting one of the most basic functions of the university.”
All too often, this chaos leads to violence. The House Committee on Education and Workforce — of which I am the <a href="https://edworkforce.house.gov/">chairman</a> — heard from Michael Kaminsky, a student at DePaul University and a first-generation American who was assaulted by masked attackers for his efforts to promote dialogue about Israel and the Jewish faith. He was left with a fractured wrist, and his friend was knocked unconscious.
This is not what college should be. Students should be focused on learning and growing — not fearing harassment or assault because of their identities.
These actions are not happening in a vacuum. They are being encouraged — sometimes openly — by faculty.
At Haverford College, Tarik Aougab — a member of Haverford Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FSJP) — labeled pro-Israel students as “racist genocidaires” while praising the October 7 attacks as “a historic moment.”
At the University of California, Berkeley, a professor posted that he “could have been one of those who broke the siege.”
At MIT, former linguistics professor Michel DeGraff accused a student of having a Zionist “mind infection.”
<div id="attachment_1062465" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1062465" class="size-large wp-image-1062465" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310-864x576.jpg" alt="Michel DeGraff a former professor of linguistics and now faculty at large of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) attends a protest at city hall in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 9, 2024. The protest calls for the city to intervene and take action against MIT for its role in the Israeli and Palestinian conflict and for MIT to loose its non profit status. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images</div>
This kind of rhetoric has consequences.
Let’s be clear: for many Jewish Americans, Israel is central to their identity. When students are targeted under the guise of “anti-Zionism,” the line between activism and antisemitism is not just crossed — it’s erased.
And yet, too many university leaders have failed to meet this moment.
Time and again, university presidents have come before this Committee and refused to take responsibility. They hedge, they equivocate, and they fail to enforce even their own rules.
The result is what we see today: antisemitism that is spreading, intensifying, and, in some cases, turning violent.
My Committee has released a report documenting just how serious this problem has become.
The findings are clear: weak leadership, radical faculty, and emboldened student groups have created an environment where antisemitism festers — and Jewish students are paying the price.
This cannot continue.
* * *
Tim Walberg represents Michigan’s 5th Congressional District and is serving his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He currently chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Protesters Gather Outside Pro-Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil’s Court Conference In New York

The Profs Aren’t Alright: How Radical Faculty Fuel The Rise Of Campus Antisemitism

The Profs Aren't Alright: How Radical Faculty Fuel The Rise Of Campus Antisemitism

American Universities

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The following excerpt is taken from “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Slacking-Guide-Ivy-League-Miseducation/dp/1641774592">Slacking: A Guide To Ivy League Miseducation</a>,” by Adam Kissel, Rachel Alexander Cambre, and Madison Marino Doan (Encounter Books)
* * *
Don’t trust the Ivy League to produce well-educated students.
The eight institutions that make up the Ivy League are among the most selective in the United States, and their graduates occupy the elite echelons of American life. Parents often spend $80,000 or more per year for their children to attend Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Penn, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, or Dartmouth and have an opportunity to punch a ticket to the top.
But what really happens there? Do graduates really join “the fellowship of educated men and women,” as Harvard used to assert each year at its commencement ceremony?
Some do. Many don’t.
Like most American colleges, most of the Ivies grant signiﬁcant latitude in the undergraduate curriculum. (Columbia is the only exception.) Students not only choose a major — from as many as ninety options—but they also choose the content of their core curriculum. Core curricula historically guaranteed consistency for undergraduates, reflecting a wise faculty’s determination of the knowledge and academic skills most worth having. Today, however, most general education requirements in the Ivies are so general — some arts here, some sciences there—that they are simply another opportunity for undirected self-actualization. Hundreds of course options can fulﬁll each “requirement.”
These options, moreover, vary tremendously — from serious, rigorous, and open to challenge, to whimsical, activist, and tendentious. This variation is greatest in the humanities and social sciences. For every course seeking to develop a broader or deeper understanding of man, nature, and the cosmos, there are dozens preoccupied with pop culture, identity politics, progressive activism, or hyper-specialization.
<div id="attachment_953731" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-953731" class="wp-image-953731 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-29-Jul-2025-11-19-AM-1249-384x576.jpg" alt="Cover Credit: Encounter Books/ Cooley Design Lab. William Shakespeare associated with John Taylor circa 1610." width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-29-Jul-2025-11-19-AM-1249-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-29-Jul-2025-11-19-AM-1249-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-29-Jul-2025-11-19-AM-1249-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-29-Jul-2025-11-19-AM-1249-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-29-Jul-2025-11-19-AM-1249-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-29-Jul-2025-11-19-AM-1249-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MixCollage-29-Jul-2025-11-19-AM-1249-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Cover Credit: Encounter Books/ Cooley Design Lab. William Shakespeare associated with John Taylor circa 1610.</div>
Writing requirements are even worse. Putatively about writing, such courses indulge the moral and political conceits of their instructors. At the other extreme, most courses that meet science requirements actually teach science, even though light courses are available for slackers. (At Cornell, the course discussing Disney films to learn about animals is an exception, and Columbia still offers Physics for Poets.)
A generation ago, the critique of Ivy League curricula was that a student could graduate without being required to take any Shakespeare, American history, or Western civilization. That complaint remains well-grounded. Today, the situation is worse: Can a serious student find even one core course on Shakespeare or America worth taking?
By not providing a content-rich core curriculum — a set of required courses in the arts and sciences — but instead allowing students to choose from a wide range of courses to fulﬁll vague distribution requirements, most of the Ivies risk having students graduate with what the American Council of Trustees and Alumni calls a “thin and patchy education, with no guarantee that they have mastered a core set of facts or skills.” Absent strong curricular requirements, universities cannot guarantee that students “learn what they need to know to be informed citizens, effective workers, and lifelong learners.”
Fortunately, a strong education remains available to Ivy students in most areas of general education. They will have to work for it and get wise advice. But by far, Ivy League students are offered, and thus receive, a truly substandard education by any reasonable measure. Dante or Cardi B? Every educated man and woman ought to know the difference.
* * *
This excerpt from “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Slacking-Guide-Ivy-League-Miseducation/dp/1641774592">Slacking</a>” is published by permission from Encounter Books.
Adam Kissel is a visiting fellow for higher education reform in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. A graduate of the University of Chicago and Harvard, he served in the first Trump administration as deputy assistant secretary for higher education programs. 
Rachel Alexander Cambre teaches for Belmont Abbey College’s new Master of Arts in Classical and Liberal Education program. She holds degrees from Washington and Lee University and Baylor University and has held teaching and research postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton University and the University of Virginia.
Madison Marino Doan is a senior research associate in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. Her work focuses on affordability and accountability reform in higher education and K-12 education choice initiatives. She graduated summa cum laude from Lamar University in economics and finance.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Yale University campus

From Dante To Cardi B? The Collapse Of Ivy League Curricula

From Dante To Cardi B? The Collapse Of Ivy League Curriculums

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Harvard University is reportedly willing to pay up to $500 million to settle a dispute with the Trump administration over alleged civil rights violations.
Negotiators are still discussing the exact terms of a settlement, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/us/politics/trump-harvard-payment.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aE8.2qHi.ecIDeUuspHot&amp;amp;smid=url-share">reported</a> on Monday. The amount is more than double the $220 million that Columbia University recently agreed to pay to resolve accusations that the school failed to address antisemitism on campus.
&#8220;The Trump Administration’s proposition is simple and commonsense: Don’t allow antisemitism and DEI to run your campus, don’t break the law, and protect the civil liberties of all students,&#8221; White House spokesman Harrison W. Fields said before Harvard&#8217;s most recent hearing.
Fields said the administration was &#8220;confident that Harvard will eventually come around and support the president’s vision, and through good-faith conversations and negotiations, a good deal is more than possible.&#8221;
Harvard is reluctant to pay the federal government directly, the Times reported. Officials have been skeptical of Columbia&#8217;s agreement for an &#8220;outside monitor,&#8221; suggesting it could infringe on academic freedom.
President Donald Trump is insistent that Harvard pay more than Columbia, according to The Times. Harvard has a $53 billion endowment.
The school and its administration are waiting for a court ruling on federal funding cuts imposed by the Trump administration, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-administration-squares-off-with-harvard-in-court-over-federal-funding">reported</a>. The judge previously ruled against the government&#8217;s attempt to block the university from enrolling foreign students.
Harvard sued after the government cut federal funds, saying the move violates its First Amendment rights.
“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,” said Harvard President Alan M. Garber.
In the past, Trump has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-calls-harvard-an-anti-semitic-threat-to-democracy?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Calls+Harvard+%E2%80%98An+Anti-Semitic%E2%80%A6Threat+To+Democracy%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Harvard “Anti-Semitic,” “Far-Left,” and “a threat to Democracy.” The administration has found the university in violation of federal civil rights law, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-finds-harvard-discriminated-against-jewish-students-threatens-funding">reported</a>.
But Trump has seemed pleased with recent talks.
&#8220;They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right,&#8221; Trump said in a June social media post.
In Columbia&#8217;s settlement, the school agreed to review Middle East-related programs; explore ways to improve and support Jewish students; and end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)  policies.
The administration is using Columbia&#8217;s settlement as a model for dealing with other schools.
&#8220;Harvard wants to settle, but I think Columbia handled it better,&#8221; Trump told reporters Friday.

Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library

Harvard Open To Paying $500M Settlement Amid Trump Crackdown On Campus Antisemitism

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Columbia University has agreed to pay out an undisclosed sum of money to two janitors who were verbally harassed, physically assaulted, and held hostage during the anti-Israel protests that swept across the campus in the months after the October 7th massacre in Israel.
Lester Wilson and Mario Torres filed a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/columbia-university-janitors-settle-case-being-held-hostage-anti-israel-rioters-campus">civil rights complaint</a> against the school after they were caught up in the student-led siege of Hamilton Hall — and barricaded inside the building with protesters who assaulted them, threatened them with violence, and called them &#8220;Jew lovers.&#8221;
“The university set up the situation and ended up putting them into that situation, now the issue is holding accountable those who carried it out and were responsible for the takeover and the assault,” <a href="https://brandeiscenter.com/columbia-university-janitors-ucla-jewish-community-members-sue-orgs-behind-encampments/">Brandeis Center</a> president Alyza Lewin said of their case.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Columbia janitors trapped, attacked by anti-Israel mob and forced to scrub swastikas settle with school for undisclosed amount <a href="https://t.co/qjN2XdRCJY">https://t.co/qjN2XdRCJY</a> <a href="https://t.co/pEoFSoZM78">pic.twitter.com/pEoFSoZM78</a>
— New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1948522879714300319?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump announced earlier in the week that Columbia University had agreed to pay a penalty to the federal government: $220 million, $20 million of which was to go &#8220;to their Jewish employees who were unlawfully targeted and harassed.&#8221;
Despite the fact that neither Wilson nor Torres is Jewish, they are expected to take their settlement from the $20 million designated to go to employees who were &#8220;unlawfully targeted&#8221; by the protests — most of whom were Jewish.
Both Wilson and Torres had been with the university for five years, and according to a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/24/us-news/columbia-janitors-trapped-attacked-by-anti-israel-mob-settle-for-undisclosed-amount/">report</a> published Thursday by The New York Post, have not been able to return to work since the student takeover of Hamilton Hall. Both state that they were injured during the protests.
According to the initial complaint, Torres stated that a masked protester had approached him, saying, &#8220;I’m going to get twenty guys up here to f–k you up.&#8221;
Torres said that he had responded by grabbing a fire extinguisher, which he intended to use in self-defense if necessary, and said, &#8220;I’ll be right here.&#8221;
He said that protesters later beat him, striking his back before he was able to escape the building. Wilson, who also eventually escaped Hamilton Hall, said that he was attacked with piece of furniture.
Prior to the protests, both men reported multiple instances of graffiti — including swastikas — inside Hamilton Hall.
&#8220;Mr. Wilson recognized the swastikas as symbols of white supremacy. As an African-American man, he found the images deeply distressing. He reported them to his supervisors, who instructed him to erase the graffiti,&#8221; he alleged in the complaint. &#8220;No matter how many times Mr. Wilson removed the swastikas, individuals kept replacing them with more.&#8221;
Torres said that he eventually began to throw away chalk that he found left behind in classrooms, saying that he did not want to leave potential vandals anything to write with.

Columbia University Issues Deadline For Gaza Encampment To Vacate Campus

Columbia U Forced To Pay Off Janitors Who Were Held Hostage By Anti-Israel Protesters

Pro-Hamas

Protests

Federal funds earmarked for increasing “the security and prosperity of the United States” bankrolled the work of the father of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani that would seem to do the opposite.
Columbia University’s Middle East Institute applied for the Department of Education’s “National Resource Centers and Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships” money based on its employment of professors including Mahmood Mamdani, who it called senior faculty, highlighting his recent work on “colonialism” and “native as political identity,” and his “courses on Islam, state violence, and international relations.”
The <a href="https://iris.ed.gov/downloads/applications/P015A180080/P015A180080_GrantApplication.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">application</a> said that Columbia should get taxpayer money because its international professors would shape the views of Americans who would go on to work for the United States government. It &#8220;specifically trains students for employment in positions in the government (State, Defense, Homeland Security, Intelligence agencies, and Congressional Offices),” it said.
The Middle East unit at the lavishly endowed private university asked for more than $1 million from taxpayers to fund the professors&#8217; salaries and other costs for four years under the National Resource Centers program, and $1.6 million for &#8220;institutional payments&#8221; and &#8220;subsistence allowance&#8221; for students under the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship. Between 2018 and 2024, Columbia University as a whole received nearly $12 million in grants from both programs, with nearly $4 million specifically for the Middle East program, according to data compiled by spending watchdog OpenTheBooks.
That means even as Columbia this week agreed to pay a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbia-university-retreats-as-trump-scores-historic-220m-settlement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$200 million settlement</a> to the federal government and $20 million to Jewish employees it wronged with its culture of anti-Americanism and antisemitism, the federal government has been paying it to shape federal employees and diplomats.
When it comes to the Karl Marx-quoting prospective mayor of New York, who would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/given-three-chances-zohran-mamdani-wont-condemn-calls-to-globalize-the-intifada?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Given+Three+Chances%2C+Zohran+Mamdani+Won’t+Condemn+Calls+To+‘Globalize+The+Intifada’">not condemn</a> the phrase “globalize the intifada,” the son’s views appear to have been shaped by his father. In May 2021, Professor Mamdani <a href="https://x.com/mm1124?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>: “This is not a conflict between Israel and Hamas. We are witnessing something far more meaningful, the birth of the Third Intifadah against settler-colonialism!”
Even though the United States took in the elder Mamdani after he was cast out of Uganda by a dictator and made him a wealthy university professor, Mamdani&#8217;s 2020 book, &#8220;Neither Settler Nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities,&#8221; criticizes America as oppressive, according to an interview with <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/mahmood-mamdani-nation-state-interview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Nation</a>. The book reaches back hundreds of years to complain of &#8220;the genocide of Native Americans by Europeans&#8221; and conversion of Muslims by Christians, and casts &#8220;the founding of the state of Israel&#8221; as an act &#8220;of extreme political violence undertaken to create ethnically homogeneous states.&#8221;
He seemed to suggest to The Nation that the cure for Hamas violence was giving in to terrorists.
&#8220;You can fill an unlimited number of jails [with] perpetrators, but it will not bring a solution to the problem unless you acknowledge that the problem is more political than criminal, and that when it comes to political conflicts and political violence, adversaries mobilize around issues,&#8221; Mamdani wrote.
In his 2004 book &#8220;Good Muslim, Bad Muslim,&#8221; he made a similar argument, writing: &#8220;Suicide bombing needs to be understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_891841" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-891841" class="size-large wp-image-891841" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2150306027-864x576.jpg" alt="Columbia University Expels, Revokes Degrees From Students Who Seized Campus Building" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2150306027-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2150306027-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2150306027-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2150306027-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2150306027-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2150306027-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2150306027-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Columbia University. Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images</div>
The professor <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/12/us-news/mamdanis-dad-part-of-anti-israel-group-sympathetic-to-suicide-bombers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sits</a> on an advisory council whose goal is &#8220;to awaken civil society to its responsibility and opportunity to stop Israel&#8217;s genocide in Gaza&#8221; — a position that conflicts with that of the U.S. under Democrat and Republican administrations.
Columbia University also used Professor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doe-program-meant-to-boost-national-security-funds-anti-american-professors-study-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Joseph Massad</a> as a selling point for federal money. Massad called Hamas’ October 7 attack “a stunning victory of the Palestinian resistance.” According to the Middle East Forum, students said Massad “takes a categorically anti-U.S. tack at every possible opportunity,” and lists “the West’s various cultural crimes ad nauseam.”
George Washington University, located near the State Department’s headquarters, received millions of dollars in Middle East Foreign Language and Area Studies funding from the Department of Education, even as a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/george-washington-university-antisemitism-lawsuit?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=12&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=U.S.+Diplomat+Training+Ground+Let+Antisemites+Take+Over+Its+Faculty%2C+Lawsuit+Says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> said it let an anti-Israel activist group operate out of its international affairs school, leading to rampant antisemitism on a campus where more than one in four students is Jewish.
Prosecutors said in 2019 that a Texas-born woman charged with spying for Iran had her radicalization “<a href="https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/18/iran-spy-george-washington-university-muslim/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accelerated while she was in graduate school</a>” at George Washington University, where she earned a master’s degree in its Middle East Studies program.
Also in 2019, the first Trump administration threatened the University of North Carolina and Duke University for their use of the funds, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-administration-demands-unc-duke-revise-joint-middle/story?id=65754681" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writing</a> that &#8220;It seems clear foreign language instruction and area studies advancing the security and economic stability of the United States have taken &#8216;a back seat&#8217; to other priorities at the Duke-UNC CMES.&#8221; But little seems to have changed sector-wide.
<a href="https://www.openthebooks.com">OpenTheBooks</a> CEO John Hart said that the Department of Education’s persistent funneling of millions of dollars for professors who cultivate anti-American sentiment, using funds intended to do the opposite, shows that the National Resource Centers and Foreign Language and Area Studies program, if not the department as a whole, should be abolished.
&#8220;Professor Mamdani&#8217;s embrace of faddish, faculty lounge DEI theories on &#8216;decolonialism&#8217; illustrates why the Department of Education needs to be eliminated or dramatically downsized,&#8221; Hart said. &#8220;I support Professor Mamdani&#8217;s free speech rights, and the rights of his son to call for &#8216;seizing the means of production,&#8217; but that does not mean either are entitled to advance their radical views with taxpayer subsidies.&#8221;

New York City Mayoral Candidates Campaign Ahead Of Primary Election

Federal Money Meant For Training Diplomats Bankrolled Mamdani’s Father’s Anti-Americanism

Anti-Semitism

Department of Education

New York

President Trump personally inspects the Federal Reserve amid a pressure campaign on its chairman, as his administration secures major trade deals with Japan and Indonesia. New declassified documents suggest Russia possessed damaging information on Hillary Clinton in 2016 but chose not to release it. Columbia University agrees to a $200 million settlement with the federal government over antisemitism on campus, while Harvard continues its legal battle. 
It&#8217;s Friday, July 25, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today&#8217;s episode here:
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<h2>Trump Pressures Fed, Secures Major Trade Deals</h2>
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Topline: President Trump escalated his pressure campaign on the Federal Reserve by personally touring its headquarters on Thursday, as his administration announced major new trade deals with Japan and Indonesia. 
In an extraordinary move, President Trump visited the Federal Reserve building, the first sitting president to do so since 2006. The visit is the latest step in his public feud with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Trump has accused of keeping interest rates high to damage the economy. The president has also launched an investigation into the renovation of the Fed headquarters, which is over budget by more than $2.5 billion, accusing Powell of mismanaging taxpayer funds to build a &#8220;palace&#8221; for himself and hinting at fraud, which would be a fireable offense. 
The pressure campaign comes as the White House touts significant economic victories. With an August 1 tariff deadline looming, the administration finalized a massive trade deal with Japan that will lower tariffs on Japanese imports to 15% in exchange for Tokyo opening its markets to American cars and trucks. Japan has also agreed to a $550 billion investment in the U.S. economy, which includes purchasing 100 Boeing aircraft and billions in American rice and defense contracts. A separate deal was reached with Indonesia, which will eliminate tariffs on 99% of American imports. The news sent global stocks rallying, with the S&amp;P 500 hitting another record high. 
While the broader economy shows strength, the U.S. housing market has been cooling. Sales have been sluggish for three straight years, largely due to a lack of affordability. The median existing home price hit a record high of $435,000 in June, and high interest rates—which have remained over 6% since 2022—have kept many prospective buyers and sellers on the sidelines. 
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<h2>New RussiaGate Revelations Surface</h2>
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Topline: Newly declassified documents released by DNI Tulsi Gabbard suggest that Russia possessed damaging information on Hillary Clinton in 2016 but chose not to release it, further complicating the origins of the Russia-collusion narrative. 
According to a declassified House Intelligence report, Russia had obtained hacked DNC emails that allegedly showed potential criminal bribes within Clinton&#8217;s State Department, where taxpayer funds were offered to religious groups in exchange for campaign support. Other emails allegedly detailed Clinton&#8217;s &#8220;&#8216;psychoemotional problems, uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression, and cheerfulness'&#8221; and claimed she was on a &#8220;daily regimen of heavy tranquilizers.&#8221; Gabbard said Russia likely planned to use the information against Clinton had she won. 
According to investigative correspondent Jerry Dunleavy, former President Obama was &#8220;deeply involved in the Russiagate scandal,&#8221; was aware of the Clinton campaign&#8217;s plan to link Trump to Russia, and &#8220;personally directed the creation of the Intelligence community assessment in December 2016.&#8221; 
DNI Gabbard has characterized the affair as a &#8220;treasonous conspiracy against the American people.&#8221; However, some legal analysts are skeptical that the actions, while corrupt, amount to a prosecutable crime. In a recent column, National Review&#8217;s Andrew McCarthy wrote, &#8220;political smears and appalling misjudgments are not violations of the criminal law, absent some statutory federal offense. If there were a criminal offense that fit, Gabbard and Trump would cite it, rather than chanting &#8216;treason.'&#8221; Attorney General Pam Bondi is reportedly looking into the matter. 
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<h2>Columbia Settles With Feds; Harvard Fights On</h2>
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Topline: Columbia University has agreed to pay a more than $200 million settlement to the federal government over its failure to stop antisemitism on campus, while Harvard University continues its legal fight against the Trump administration. 
On Wednesday, Columbia University announced it will pay the massive settlement to restore federal funding that the Trump administration had frozen over the antisemitism allegations. The school will also pay an additional $21 million to settle investigations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the settlement a &#8220;seismic shift&#8221; and a &#8220;monumental victory for conservatives,&#8221; adding that it ensures &#8220;students and faculty know that they&#8217;re going to be evaluated on merit.&#8221; 
Meanwhile, Harvard was back in court this week, fighting to unfreeze more than $2 billion in its own federal funding. Harvard argues the funding freeze is a &#8220;blatant and unrepentant violation&#8221; of its First Amendment rights. The Trump administration contends that Harvard failed to protect its students under civil rights law. &#8220;This is about civil rights. This is about safety on campuses,&#8221; Secretary McMahon said. President Trump said that Columbia was working toward a solution while &#8220;Harvard wants to fight &#8230; and they&#8217;re getting their a** kicked.&#8221; 
Despite its combative public stance, there are signs Harvard may be &#8220;bending the knee.&#8221; The university is reportedly considering opening a new conservative center and is closing multiple diversity offices. The administration is also exerting pressure on the university by launching a new investigation into Harvard&#8217;s compliance with a government visa program and threatening to revoke the school&#8217;s accreditation.

MRN 7.25.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Russiagate Reckoning & Trump V. Powell

Donald Trump

Media

Morning Wire

Russiagate

Tulsi Gabbard

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that Columbia University would pay the federal government $200 million in a settlement over its handling of anti-Israel protests. 
In addition to the penalty paid to the federal government, Trump said the university would pay $20 million to its Jewish employees “who were unlawfully targeted and harassed.” In exchange, the Trump administration will unfreeze federal funding and close down several investigations into the Ivy League university.  
“I am pleased to announce that the Trump Administration has reached a historic agreement with Columbia University. Columbia has agreed to pay a penalty of $200 Million Dollars to the United States Government for violating Federal Law, in addition to over $20 Million to their Jewish employees who were unlawfully targeted and harassed. Columbia has also committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus,” Trump posted on Truth Social. 
“Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming,” Trump added. “It’s a great honor to have been involved, and I want to thank and congratulate Secretary Linda McMahon, and all those who worked with us on this important deal. I also want to thank and commend Columbia University for agreeing to do what is right. I look forward to watching them have a great future in our Country, maybe greater than ever before!”
In the <a href="https://president.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/July%202025%20Announcement/Columbia%20University%20Resolution%20Agreement.pdf">settlement</a>, Columbia agreed to review its Middle East-related programs and task its senior vice provost with making recommendations to university leaders about “ways to improve and support Jewish students.” Columbia said in a statement that it does &#8220;not admit to wrongdoing with this resolution agreement&#8221; but recognized that &#8220;Jewish students and faculty have experienced painful, unacceptable incidents.&#8221;
The settlement also includes a provision prohibiting the university from creating DEI programs. 
“Columbia shall not maintain programs that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotas, diversity targets, or similar efforts. For example, Columbia will not provide benefits or advantages to individuals on the basis of protected characteristics in any school, component, division, department, foundation, association or element within the entire Columbia University system,” the settlement says. 
Admission to the university must also be based on merit, and the university is prohibited from using any proxy, such as a diversity narrative included in an application, for racial preferences, according to the settlement. Columbia will be required to provide a breakdown of students it has accepted and rejected, including data on race, GPA, and standardized test scores, to ensure compliance with the settlement. 
Columbia also agreed to hire employees based only on individual qualifications and academic and professional merit, and to ensure that women had access to all female housing, sports teams, locker rooms, and showering facilities. 
“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” said acting University President Claire Shipman. “The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track.”
The settlement comes just days after Columbia <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbia-hits-dozens-of-students-with-suspensions-expulsions-for-anti-israel-campus-takeovers">suspended</a> or expelled more than 70 students, including many who participated in the storming of the university library during anti-Israel protests.

US-POLITICS-TECHONOLOGY-AI

Columbia University Retreats As Trump Scores ‘Historic’ $220M Settlement

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Executive

Linda McMahon

After Mahmoud Khalil —whom the Trump administration wanted to deport, prompting protests from leftists on campus and in the media — consistently avoided condemning Hamas on a television interview, the Department of Homeland Security bluntly declared, “Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one.”
Khalil, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbia-university-anti-israel-agitator-demands-20-million-from-trump-admin">filed a $20 million claim</a> against the Trump administration this month, was interviewed on CNN by hosts Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown; Brown displayed her own prejudice by quoting a United Nations Special Committee stating it had grounds to say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians and Gaza. Blitzer and Brown supported Khalil as Blitzer selectively played a clip of Khalil making a statement against antisemitism, and Brown insisted, “You&#8217;ve consistently condemned antisemitism before and since your arrest.”
The hosts conveniently ignored Khalil having led American undergraduates at Columbia University in actions in support of Hamas after its October 7, 2023, attack. “He served as the negotiator on behalf of the occupying students with the university, pressuring the administration to accommodate student demands based on their illegal activity. He helped organize an illegal encampment on the campus that denied access to ‘Zionist’ students,” JNS <a href="applewebdata://187BEFC8-51EE-4818-A3C5-5F1D4D558027/v">noted</a>.
“Do you specifically condemn Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in the United States, not just for their actions on October 7?” Brown asked.
“I condemn the killing of all civilians, full stop,” Khalil dodged. “But what I don&#8217;t want to get into is &#8212; no. I am clear with condemning all civilians. I&#8217;m very straight in my position in that part. But it&#8217;s disingenuous to ask about condemning Hamas while Palestinians are the ones being starved now by Israel.”
“It is fair to ask you about whether you can condemn Hamas because the Trump administration has claimed that you are a Hamas sympathizer. So, it&#8217;s very important to actually ask that question in this broad conversation,” Brown persisted.
“Yes. I simply asked and protested the war in Palestine,” Khalil dodged again. “That&#8217;s what I did. That&#8217;s my duty as a Palestinian, as a human being right now, is to ask for the stop of the killing in my home country. And that&#8217;s consistent with who I am. I&#8217;m a firm believer in international law and human rights and all my values come from that. &#8230; And that&#8217;s why I wouldn&#8217;t really engage in much into such questions on condemnation or not, because selective condemnation is not &#8212; wouldn&#8217;t get us anywhere.”
DHS issued this response to Khalil’s appearance on CNN: “Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one. He ‘branded’ himself as an antisemite through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric. It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one. He ‘branded’ himself as antisemite through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric.
It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the… <a href="https://t.co/nC2WCR6Dul">pic.twitter.com/nC2WCR6Dul</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1947723549881381363?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump Administration’s Detention Of Immigrants Associated With Pro-Palestinian Protests Stirs Controversy

Trump Admin Labels Mahmoud Khalil ‘A Terrorist Sympathizer’ After He Refuses To Condemn Hamas

Terrorism

Columbia University suspended or expelled more than 70 students, some of whom took part in the anti-Israel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/masked-anti-israel-activists-take-over-columbia-u-library-during-finals-no-one-expels-them">library takeover</a> in May and others who were involved in last year&#8217;s tent encampment on the New York City campus, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/22/us-news/columbia-finally-punishes-anti-israel-rioters-over-violent-library-takeover-slaps-students-with-multi-year-suspensions-expulsions/">reported</a> on Tuesday.
Around 50 of the anti-Israel students will be suspended for between one and three years, according to the Post, which cited multiple sources familiar with the matter. The majority of the suspensions are for two years, while only a &#8220;handful&#8221; of students were expelled.
The Ivy League school was in the national spotlight during the spring of 2024 as an anti-Israel demonstration-turned-riot rocked the campus. The punishments for the tent encampment and the library takeover were doled out on Monday following a review from Columbia University&#8217;s Judicial Board.
“Our institution must focus on delivering on its academic mission for our community. And to create a thriving academic community, there must be respect for each other and the institution’s fundamental work, policies, and rules,” a Columbia spokesman said in a statement. “Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and Rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences. The speed with which our updated UJB system has offered an equitable resolution to the community and students involved is a testament to the hard work of this institution to improve its processes.”
On May 7, anti-Israel protesters, many of them wearing masks and keffiyehs, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/masked-anti-israel-activists-take-over-columbia-u-library-during-finals-no-one-expels-them">stormed</a> Columbia&#8217;s main library and occupied it for five hours while students tried to study for their final exams. The protesters chanted “Intifada revolution” and “from the river to the sea,” phrases calling for the destruction of Israel. Some of those who took part in the library takeover defaced walls and marked tables with tape. Two public safety officers were injured in the library storming. Columbia officials called in the New York Police Department to handle the protest, and more than 80 people were arrested, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/09/us-news/columbia-students-describe-shocking-library-takeover-after-masked-protesters-chanted-pro-hamas-slogans/">Post</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
RIGHT NOW AT COLUMBIA: Masked anti-Israel students just broke into the library during finals week. 
Columbia Public Safety unsuccessfully attempted to stop them. <a href="https://t.co/vBfkQFlwUW">pic.twitter.com/vBfkQFlwUW</a>
&mdash; Eden Yadegar (@edenyadegar) <a href="https://twitter.com/edenyadegar/status/1920196848523833405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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WATCH: Anti-Israeli protesters have stormed the Butler Library at Columbia University and are now occupying it. 
Make an example of these people. <a href="https://t.co/asiA8YMm3U">pic.twitter.com/asiA8YMm3U</a>
&mdash; RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) <a href="https://twitter.com/RedWave_Press/status/1920208253494964262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The suspensions and expulsions announced on Tuesday come as the Trump administration pressures Columbia and other Ivy League universities to crack down on antisemitism on their campuses. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump cut $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia as the Education Department <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwg1w3409o">accused</a> Columbia of ignoring &#8220;relentless violence, intimidation, and antisemitic harassment.&#8221;
After the federal funding cut, Columbia <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbia-university-agrees-to-trumps-demands-to-ban-masks-empower-campus-police">agreed</a> to do more to push back against radical anti-Israel demonstrations and radicalization on campus, such as empowering campus police and banning masks worn for anything other than health reasons.

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Columbia Hits Dozens Of Students With Suspensions, Expulsions For Anti-Israel Campus Takeovers

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Columbia University anti-Israel agitator Mahmoud Khalil filed a $20 million claim against President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration on Thursday, claiming that he was &#8220;falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted, and smeared as an antisemite&#8221; when the U.S. State Department moved to deport him.
Khalil told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-ice-release-trump-columbia-protests-570f7af32010c16b1a00dd7e78f4c687">The Associated Press</a> that he could not forgive the Trump administration for the fact that he&#8217;d been detained hundreds of miles away while his wife gave birth to their son. &#8220;I cannot describe the pain of that night,&#8221; he said. The AP noted Khalil&#8217;s &#8220;anguish&#8221; but made no mention of the Jewish students who felt unsafe while he and his cohorts fomented a culture of antisemitism on Columbia&#8217;s campus and across the United States.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: Mahmoud Khalil just filed a $20M damages claim against the Trump admin, alleging it terrorized his family and smeared him as an antisemite for political gain. He spoke with us about the filing, and the moments of bliss and anguish since his release <a href="https://t.co/3lh1Krdua1">https://t.co/3lh1Krdua1</a> <a href="https://t.co/640Hbm4eCo">pic.twitter.com/640Hbm4eCo</a>
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) <a href="https://twitter.com/jangelooff/status/1943367171599446494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Khalil&#8217;s deportation order is still in limbo as it moves through the American court system, but the claim filed on Thursday — according to The AP — &#8220;is a precursor to a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act&#8221; and &#8220;names the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the State Department&#8221; as codefendants.
The anti-Israel activist told The AP that the reason for his claim was to bring more attention to his cause, saying, &#8220;They are abusing their power because they think they are untouchable. Unless they feel there is some sort of accountability, it will continue to go unchecked.&#8221;
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He also claimed that if the government were to pay out any amount of money, he would share the settlement with others he said were also being &#8220;targeted&#8221; by the Trump administration. He also said that he would settle for an &#8220;official apology&#8221; from the administration along with changes to policy to make sure that what happened to him could not happen to anyone else.
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Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Khalil&#8217;s claim was &#8220;absurd,&#8221; and that he had participated in and led the &#8220;hateful behavior and rhetoric&#8221; that left so many Jewish students feeling unsafe.

Columbia University Anti-Israel Agitator Demands $20 Million From Trump Admin

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