The Trump administration revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students on Thursday as the government and elite university feud over antisemetic incidents on campus.
The Department of Homeland Security notified the university in a letter that its participation in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program had been revoked. The move against the university’s foreign exchange program came after days of negotiations over a government request for Harvard records, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/us/politics/trump-harvard-international-students.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X. “It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused.”
“They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law,” she continued. “Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.
It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments… <a href="https://t.co/12hJWd1J86">pic.twitter.com/12hJWd1J86</a>
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sec_Noem/status/1925612991703052733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
The letter bluntly lists the infractions that the Trump administration says Harvard has committed to lose its certification to receive foreign students.
“As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege,” the letter says.
Last month, Noem <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/17/us/harvard-letter-signed.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requested</a> information from Harvard on foreign students. The administration asked for information that the university has that shows if any student with a visa committed “illegal activity” or “dangerous or violent activity” and whether or not that activity took place on campus, according to a letter from Noem to Harvard.
Homeland Security also requested information on what disciplinary action Harvard has taken “as a result of [visa holders] making threats to other students or populations or participating in protests.”
Harvard rebuffed the requests despite warnings from the Trump administration that its certification to accept foreign students could be revoked. The Trump administration has previously stripped billions in taxpayer-funded grants to the university over its handling of antisemitism on campus.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://time.com/7287253/rubio-state-department-visas-revoked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in Senate testimony this week that the Trump administration has likely revoked thousands of visas from foreign students who have disrupted campus or expressed solidarity with terror groups.
“I don&#8217;t know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,” said Rubio. “We&#8217;re going to continue to revoke the visas of people who are here as guests and are disrupting our higher education facilities.”

Harvard University

Trump’s Latest Barb In War With Harvard: No More Foreign Students

Education

Executive

Trump Administration

U.S.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Harvard University in a letter on Monday that it would no longer be eligible for new federal grants, saying that it has systematically violated federal law.
McMahon&#8217;s letter to Harvard President Alan Garber comes after the Trump administration has frozen more than $2 billion in federal dollars to the university over DEI and its handling of anti-Israel protests. President Donald Trump last week said that Harvard would lose its tax-exempt status.
&#8220;Harvard University has made a mockery of this country&#8217;s higher education system. It has invited foreign students, who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States of America, to its campus,&#8221; McMahon wrote. &#8220;In every way, Harvard has failed to abide by its legal obligations, its ethical and fiduciary duties, its transparency responsibilities, and any semblance of academic rigor.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/Harvard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Harvard</a>: <a href="https://t.co/XmMimXfkX0">pic.twitter.com/XmMimXfkX0</a>
— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) <a href="https://twitter.com/EDSecMcMahon/status/1919517481313427594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Harvard University, despite amassing a largely tax-free $53.2 billion endowment (larger than the GDP of 100 countries), receives billions of dollars of taxpayer largess each year. Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right. Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students. Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law,&#8221; she added. 
She called for Harvard to institute &#8220;common sense&#8221; reforms, including merit-based hiring, ending programs that promote &#8220;crude identity stereotypes,&#8221; disciplinary reform, cooperation with law enforcement, and reporting compliance with directives from the Trump administration.
McMahon said the letter served as notice that Harvard should no longer apply for federal grants because &#8220;none would be provided.&#8221;
&#8220;Harvard will cease to be a publicly funded institution, and can instead operate as a privately-funded institution, drawing on its colossal endowment, and raising money from a large base of wealthy alumni. You have an approximately $53 billion head start, much of which was made possible by the fact that you are living within the walls of, and benefiting from, the prosperity secured by the United States of America and its free-market system you teach your students to despise,&#8221; she wrote. 
McMahon said that the primary issue the administration had with the university was its response to the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision to strike down affirmative action.
&#8220;Perhaps most alarmingly, Harvard has failed to abide by the United States Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling demanding that it end its racial preferencing, and continues to engage in ugly racism in its undergraduate and graduate schools, and even within the Harvard Law Review itself,&#8221; she said. Our universities should be bastions of merit that reward and celebrate excellence and achievement. They should not be incubators of discrimination that encourage resentment and instill grievance and racism into our wonderful young Americans.&#8221;
Trump has been sharply critical of Harvard, calling it a &#8220;threat to democracy&#8221; and &#8220;far left institution.&#8221;

Trump Signs Executive Order To Begin Dismantling Education Department

Harvard Gets More Bad News From Trump Admin Amid Funding Fight

Department of Education

Donald Trump

Funding

Linda McMahon

Politics

President Donald Trump said Friday that Harvard University would lose its tax-exempt status, ramping up his fight with the Ivy League institution to a new level.
Trump&#8217;s comments come amid a funding fight with the university as his administration has frozen more than $2 billion in federal funds to Harvard over its pushback on his administration&#8217;s efforts to target diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and handling of anti-Israel protests. Last week, Trump called Harvard a “far left institution” and “a threat to Democracy.”
&#8220;We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114437989795464761" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on his social media platform Friday morning.
The announcement comes after repeated pressure from Trump for Harvard to comply with his executive orders on education or face the consequences. Last month, the Washington Post <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-wants-irs-to-quash-harvards-tax-exempt-status-report?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Wants+IRS+To+Quash+Harvard’s+Tax-Exempt+Status%3A+Report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the Treasury Department had asked the IRS to revoke Harvard&#8217;s tax-exempt status.
“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 posted on Truth Social on April 15.
At the time, White House spokesman Harrison Fields said that any probes into entities over their tax-exempt status had begun before that social media post.
“Any forthcoming actions by the IRS will be conducted independently of the president, and investigations into any institution’s violations of its tax status were initiated prior to the president’s TRUTH,&#8221; he said.
Trump took another shot at Harvard on Thursday night during his commencement speech at the University of Alabama.
&#8220;The next chapter of the American story will not be written by the Harvard Crimson. It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide,&#8221; Trump said, saying that Harvard&#8217;s billions of dollars in federal funding wouldn&#8217;t be &#8220;so forthcoming&#8221; now.
Harvard <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-renames-dei-office-amid-funding-battle-with-trump-admin?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Harvard+Renames+DEI+Office+Amid+Funding+Battle+With+Trump+Admin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebranded</a> its DEI office this week, renaming it the “Community and Campus Life” and changing its focus to “expanding cross-cultural engagement programs, supporting first-generation and low-income students, and creating more opportunities for dialogue across differences,” according to The Harvard Crimson. The university has also changed its chief diversity officer position, which has been renamed and will now be called the Chief Community and Campus Life Officer.
On Monday, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-launches-probe-into-harvard-law-review-over-treatment-of-white-contributors?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Launches+Probe+Into+Harvard+Law+Review+Over+Treatment+Of+White+Contributors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that it would investigate Harvard and the student-run Harvard Law Journal over its treatment of white contributors.
The Trump administration specifically cited reports that a Harvard Law Review editor said it was “concerning” that four out of five individuals who wanted to reply to an article on police reform were &#8220;white men.” The administration provided another example of an editor saying “that a piece should be subject to expedited review because the author was a minority.”

US-POLITICS-EDUCATION

‘What They Deserve’: Trump Says He’s Ending Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Giving the commencement address at the University of Alabama on Thursday night, President Donald Trump brought roars from the crowd when he praised the graduates while ripping Harvard University.
Trump has targeted Harvard for its lackadaisical attitude regarding antisemitism and its general adherence to leftist ideologies; on Wednesday, he <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-suggests-us-may-not-give-more-grants-harvard-university-2025-04-30/">suggested</a> the federal government might stop giving grants to the university. The Trump administration has frozen $2.3 billion in federal funds for Harvard and begun a formal review into roughly $9 billion in funding for the university.
“We believe the South is beautiful, Alabama is great, and America is our home,” Trump told the Alabama graduates. “We believe in the SEC [the Southeastern Conference] and the USA. Graduates of the Alabama Class of 2025, standing here before you in this magnificent arena, it is clear to see the next chapter of the American story will not be written by the Harvard Crimson. It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide.”
As the exultant crowd roared its applause, Trump repeated, “That’s true. That’s true.”
“I thought that was rather clever,” he quipped. “If you look at what’s going on now, they get their $5 billion a year that is not going to be so forthcoming.”
“This is Alabama, and in Alabama you fight, fight, fight, and you win, win, win, that’s what you know how to do,” he told the cheering crowd.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/InSSbTXSgwY?si=gOp5t4Wy6xntEj7z&amp;start=3310" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Earlier, he declared, “Now, exactly 200 years after the first patriots stood and fought at Lexington and Concord, we are in the midst of another kind of revolution; a revolution of winning and a revolution of common sense. Everywhere you look, broken systems, corrupt institutions, entire dogmas are being swept away by the tide of history; ancient wisdom is being rediscovered and the best and strongest traits of America are coming back for all to see.”
“God only created one of you; remember that,” he instructed the graduates. “God created one of you; you’re all different; somewhere close, but nobody is the same. You’re one of a kind. So don’t try to be someone else, just be yourself. And finally, and most importantly, never, ever, give up.”

President Trump Addresses University Of Alabama Graduating Class

Trump Tells Exultant Alabama Graduates They Are The Future, Not Harvard

Commencement

University of Alabama

On Wednesday, Harvard University released its internal report titled “Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias.”
“[A] new generation of student activists seems to have begun to perceive Israel as a symbol and vehicle of the evils of the United States and the rest of the Western world,” the <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FINAL-Harvard-ASAIB-Report-4.29.25.pdf">report</a> stated. “A Harvard faculty member who works closely with students reported to us that some Jewish students choose to hide their identities on campus, which was something the faculty member could not have imagined would ever be the case at Harvard.”
The report noted an “antisemitic cartoon circulated in February 2024 by groups of pro-Palestinian Harvard students, staff, and faculty on social media. The cartoon, depicting a white hand with a Jewish star holding a noose around the heads of a Black man (Muhammad Ali) and an Arab man (Gamal Abdel Nasser), came from 1960s Black student activism, and it was widely condemned as antisemitic by Black leaders at that time.”
“The more time we spent on this problem, the more we learned about how demonization of Israel has impacted a much wider swath of campus life than we would have imagined,” the authors wrote. “Pro-Palestinian activists often target what they see as key planks in Western support for Israel: 1. the belief that Israeli Jews have a historic connection to the territory of the modern State of Israel; 2. a view of Israel as a Western liberal democracy; and 3. the post-Holocaust social prohibition on antisemitism, whether expressed as outright Jew-hatred or the denial of the State of Israel’s legitimacy.”
The report references the testimony of former Harvard President Claudine Gay before Congress, where Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and others asked her whether people calling for genocide against Jews violated Harvard’s code of conduct. Gay insisted that it “depends on the context.” The Harvard report called Gay’s answers “strained efforts,” writing, “What seemed to many like President Gay’s strained efforts to avoid providing a clear yes or no answer ignited a firestorm of criticism nationwide.”
The report noted a letter to the editor of the Harvard Crimson from the student president of Harvard Hillel’s undergraduate student Jewish community stating, “Being Jewish at Harvard today is vastly more difficult than it was [for college students] in the ‘90s.”
“We were surprised to learn just how correct this seems to be,” the report stated.

US-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-PROTEST

Harvard Releases Report On Antisemitism: Impacted Campus Life Worse ‘Than We Would Have Imagined’

anti-Israel

antisemitism

The Trump administration&#8217;s war with Harvard University continued on Monday as the Education Department and the Department of Health and Human Services launched a probe into the university&#8217;s law journal over its treatment of white contributors.
The investigation will focus on reports of the Harvard Law Review evaluating journal membership and article publication on the basis of race as opposed to merit. Civil rights law prohibits federal dollars from going toward entities that practice racial discrimination.
“Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “Title VI’s demands are clear: recipients of federal financial assistance may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. No institution—no matter its pedigree, prestige, or wealth—is above the law. The Trump Administration will not allow Harvard, or any other recipients of federal funds, to trample on anyone’s civil rights.”
The Trump administration specifically cited reports that a Harvard Law Review editor said it was &#8220;concerning&#8221; that four out of five individuals who wanted to reply to an article on police reform &#8220;are white men.&#8221; Another exampled listed by the administration was an editor at the journal saying “that a piece should be subject to expedited review because the author was a minority.”
Anthony Archeval, the acting Director of HHS Office for Civil Rights, said that these kinds of actions could set back students.
“Law journal membership and publication are crucial achievements that build momentum for law students’ careers and shape legal scholarship,” he said. “This investigation reflects the Administration’s common-sense understanding that these opportunities should be earned through merit-based standards and not race.”
In a statement, a spokesman for Harvard Law School noted that the Harvard Law Review was &#8220;a student-run organization.&#8221;
&#8220;Harvard Law School is committed to ensuring that the programs and activities it oversees are in compliance with all applicable laws and to investigating any credibly alleged violations. The Harvard Law Review is a student-run organization that is legally independent from the law school,&#8221; the spokesman told The Daily Wire.
The Trump administration has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-calls-harvard-an-anti-semitic-threat-to-democracy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">battling with Harvard</a> over its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and handling of anti-Israel protests. Earlier this month, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard.
Last week, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Harvard was a &#8220;Far Left Institution&#8221; and &#8220;a threat to Democracy.&#8221;

Supreme Court Rules Affirmative Action Is Unconstitutional In Landmark Case With Harvard And UNC

Trump Admin Launches Probe Into Harvard Law Review Over Treatment Of White Contributors

Harvard

Racial Discrimination

Harvard University sued the federal government on Monday over threats to cut taxpayer funding to the school.
The lawsuit is the latest escalation in a growing feud between the Trump administration and the university. The government has put increasing pressure on the school over pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas protests that rocked the campus after the October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.
Last week, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard. The administration is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/trump-administration-irate-at-harvard-will-pull-additional-1-billion-in-funding-8c209113" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> considering freezing another $1 billion in funding after the college administrators released a letter of demands from the government that government officials considered private correspondence amid the negotiations.
“The consequences of the government’s overreach will be severe and long-lasting,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in an open letter announcing the lawsuit.
Garber said the funding cuts would jeopardize the university’s research projects on childhood cancer.
“The Government has not – and cannot – identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen that aims to save American lives, foster American success, preserve American security, and maintain America’s position as a global leader in innovation,” the <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Harvard-Funding-Freeze-Order-Complaint.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> says.
The Trump administration is leaning on Harvard and other universities, mostly elite Ivy League schools, to reform and restructure their administration over anti-Semitic incidents that have broken out on the campuses in recent years. The government’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism has led the push to crack down on the universities.
Harvard, the oldest and wealthiest university in the United States, has made an aggressive push to counter the administration after Columbia University agreed to demands from the government in the hopes of getting its government funding restored. Harvard’s antagonistic stance has frustrated officials in the administration.
“Instead of grandstanding, Harvard should focus on rebuilding confidence among all students, particularly Jewish students,” a White House spokesman said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal on Monday. “The White House remains open to dialogue, but serious changes are needed at Harvard.”
The Trump administration has threatened to go beyond Harvard’s access to federal funds, warning that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may strip the university of access to foreign exchange students, as well. DHS has also demanded that the university turn over records on its foreign exchange students accused of “illegal and violent activities.”
Treasury Department officials are also reportedly considering revoking the university’s nonprofit status.

Harvard seal

Harvard Sues To Restore Taxpayer Funding Frozen By Trump Admin

According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration is pushing the Internal Revenue Service to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status.
The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/16/trump-harvard-tax-exempt-irs/">reported</a> that three sources informed the outlet that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration had asked the IRS to make the move, although there is no confirmation that it has done so. WaPo also reported that its sources claimed Andrew De Mello, the IRS’s acting chief counsel, was asked by the Treasury Department to take the action. Sources also claimed this is part of a feud with Ivy League schools that the Trump administration views as &#8220;woke.&#8221;
“I think they’re going to go after a whole bunch of them,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) said. “I’m not sure why we need to be funding people who aggressively refuse to give up a variety of values and structures that most Americans don’t agree with.”
On Tuesday. President Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114342374504628520">posted</a> on Truth Social, “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!”
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields stated: &#8220;Any forthcoming actions by the IRS will be conducted independently of the president, and investigations into any institution’s violations of its tax status were initiated prior to the president’s TRUTH.”
In January 2024, Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-MO), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/10/jason-smith-harvard-mit-penn-might-not-deserve-tax-exemption-00134815" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> that the responses of Harvard, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT to the antisemitism on their campuses might justify revoking their tax-exempt status. The college’s actions “raise several questions, including whether your institutions are fulfilling their educational purposes as required to receive 501c3 tax-exempt status &#8230;”
On Monday, the Trump administration’s Department of Education announced it would freeze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value to Harvard University after the school said it would not comply with the Trump administration’s demand that the university <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Harvard-Response-2025-04-14.pdf">claimed</a> would “invade university freedoms.”
Last Friday, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services sent a <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Letter-Sent-to-Harvard-2025-04-11.pdf">letter</a> to Harvard in which they stated, “By August 2025, the University must adopt and implement merit-based hiring policies, and cease all preferences based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin …” adding that the same attitude must prevail in admissions policies. The correspondence also declared that by the same date, the university must “prevent admitting students hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the American Constitution and Declaration of Independence, including students supportive of terrorism and anti-Semitism.”
The university “shall commission an external party … to audit the student body, faculty and leadership for viewpoint diversity” by August 2025, the letter continued, in order to ensure that the leftist perspective that dominates the university should be contrasted with other viewpoints.
Alan Garber, the president of Harvard University, responded with a <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/the-promise-of-american-higher-education/">statement</a> in which he said, “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement,” contending, “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” and claiming the administration’s demands violated “Harvard’s First Amendment rights … threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.”

Trump Admin Wants IRS To Quash Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status: Report

Taxes

Washington Post

Wokeness

Another legal battle is brewing over the deportation of half a million migrants allowed into the United States by Joe Biden. President Donald Trump pulls the federal funding rug out from under NPR, PBS – and Harvard. Will it hold up in Congress and the courts? And, Mark Zuckerberg is back in the hot seat as Facebook is accused of antitrust practices and cozying up to China.
It’s Wednesday, April 16, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>Trump Blocks Migrant Benefits, Border Crossings At All-Time Low</h2>
<div id="attachment_908237" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-908237" class="size-large wp-image-908237" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />(Photo by Jorge Salgado/Anadolu via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Border crossings continue to fall at a historic pace as President Trump takes new steps to prevent illegal immigrants from accessing taxpayer benefits.
In recent years, the Biden administration enacted a controversial humanitarian parole program that offered legal status and two-year work permits to migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. More than 530,000 people from those countries took advantage and flew directly to the United States. In March, President Trump moved to revoke legal status for those migrants, giving them until April 24 to leave the country or face deportation.
The White House argued these migrants were undermining American workers and faced little vetting before entering the country. But this week, a federal judge appointed by President Barack Obama blocked that effort, saying the Trump administration must instead offer each migrant a case-by-case review before revoking legal status.
However, in general, the Trump administration’s immigration efforts have borne fruit. The latest report from Customs and Border Protection confirmed that border crossings fell 95% in <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/04/icymi-illegal-border-crossings-hit-new-record-low-in-march/">March</a> compared to the same month last year, with just 7,100 migrants apprehended across the entire month – that’s roughly the number of migrants that came in every single day during Biden’s term in office. The Trump administration has also continued to go after the roughly 435,000 people living here illegally who’ve been convicted of additional crimes. ICE arrests have tripled in the last three months, and the number of illegal aliens in detention facilities is at an all-time high.
“We did in three weeks what Biden didn’t do in three or four years,” Border czar Tom Homan <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1911893560116592730">said</a>. “Right now as you and I are talking, we have the most secure border in the history of this nation and the data proves it.”
According to The New York Times, the White House is now seeking $45 billion in additional funding to construct new detention facilities so it can expedite its mass deportation effort. The public still broadly approves of Trump’s immigration policy.
<h2>Trump Moves To Cut Funding To NPR, PBS &amp; Harvard</h2>
<div id="attachment_908239" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-908239" class="size-large wp-image-908239" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: President Trump is renewing his push to strip NPR and PBS of their funding while also freezing more than $2 billion in federal grants earmarked for Harvard. The moves have sparked heated debate, with supporters calling it a step toward fiscal responsibility and critics warning it threatens independent journalism and academic freedom.
Conservatives have talked about defunding NPR and PBS for years, but now they appear to have the political winds at their backs. Trust in the media is at an all-time low, and a lot of Americans are sympathetic to the idea that we do not need to spend billions of dollars in taxpayer money on these entities that many view as biased.
President Trump specifically accused NPR of being “a mouthpiece for the radical left.” And he’s calling on Republicans in Congress to introduce legislation that rescinds the funds that had been previously approved. Rescission would require the approval of the House and the Senate, where Republicans control narrow majorities and are already negotiating a major spending package.
Meanwhile: The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard after the university refused demands to overhaul its policies, and as much as $9 billion in funding could be on the table. The White House, through its Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, claims Harvard hasn’t done enough to address antisemitism tied to radical anti-Israel and pro-Hamas campus protests. They demanded changes like banning face masks, which a lot of the protestors wear, and enforcing merit-based rather than race-based admissions.
Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, rejected these demands, calling them a violation of First Amendment rights and academic freedom, saying in a statement “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.”
<h2>Facebook Faces Antitrust Lawsuit</h2>
<div id="attachment_908241" style="width: 778px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-908241" class="size-large wp-image-908241" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Facebook-dislike-768x576.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Facebook-dislike-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Facebook-dislike-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" />(Photo by Alfieri via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: FTC vs Meta Platforms, Inc. began in court this week. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat for his second day of testimony in the trial that risks breaking up his social media empire.
This case was initially brought during President Trump’s first term and has taken more than four years to work through the courts. The FTC says that Meta is a monopoly that has bought its way out of competing. The government argues that when Facebook paid $1 billion for Instagram in 2012 and bought WhatsApp in a nearly $22 billion deal in 2014, Facebook illegally cornered what the FTC calls the “personal social-networking” market. According to the government, the only other major competitors to Facebook are Snapchat and an app called MeWe.
Meta disputes this. It says the market is actually much larger, and includes TikTok, YouTube, and X. For instance, when TikTok had an outage earlier this year, Instagram saw its usage spike, which suggests that people use the sites interchangeably. Meta has also argued that by going after it, the Trump administration is helping the Chinese-owned TikTok even more. TikTok was banned in the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-rages-after-u-s-passes-law-requiring-its-sale-from-chinese-parent-company">last year</a>, but earlier this month, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-extends-tiktok-sale-deadline-by-75-days-as-acquisition-talks-continue">extended</a> the pause on a Congressionally-approved ban on that app that was put into place in January.
This trial is expected to go on for eight weeks, so there will be plenty more ahead. But if Meta loses, it could be forced to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp.

The-White-House-Press-Secretary-Karoline-Leavitt-Had-Press-Brief

Morning Brief: Border Crossings Plummet, NPR Funding Trouble & Meta Antitrust

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National Public Radio (NPR)

Former President Barack Obama, whose own administration excluded colleges that refused federal funds from its College Scorecard, railed against the Trump administration, calling it “ham-handed” for penalizing Harvard University for its lackadaisical response to antisemitism and reluctance to countenance conservative viewpoints.
In 2015, the Obama administration issued its “College Scorecard,” which offered information about college and universities&#8217; graduation rates and the average salary of graduates. But schools such as Hillsdale College, Grove City College and Christendom College, none of which accepted federal funding and thus were not beholden to federal guidelines, were <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2015/09/18/obama-administration-slams-conservative-school-as-not-a-real-college/%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">excluded</a> from the list.
Obama&#8217;s own administration, as well as the Biden administration, was rife with anti-Israel sentiment and actions, as documented <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-leaks-info-about-israel-the-obama-biden-administration-was-infamous-for-that" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Last Friday, the Trump administration told Harvard it had to clean up its act by August 2025 by more aggressively confronting antisemitism and its own leftist orthodoxy. Harvard University President Alan Garber responded in a <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/the-promise-of-american-higher-education/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> that the administration’s demands violated “Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI. And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.”
On Monday, the Department of Education <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/joint-task-force-combat-anti-semitism-statement-regarding-harvard-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">informed</a> Harvard, “The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support. The Joint Task Force to combat anti-Semitism is announcing a freeze on $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60M in multi-year contract value to Harvard University.”
“Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect,” Obama huffed. “Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and… <a href="https://t.co/gAu9UUqgjF">https://t.co/gAu9UUqgjF</a>
&mdash; Barack Obama (@BarackObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1911980834048954551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against Harvard and the University of North Carolina in a suit accusing Harvard’s admissions process of discriminating against Asian-American applicants. The decision “concluded that the race-based admissions policies of both universities violate the Equal Protection Clause because their admissions process unlawfully incorporates an applicant’s race throughout and for many applicants, ‘race is a determinative’ factor,” Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation <a href="https://www.heritage.org/courts/commentary/supreme-court-finally-ends-racist-discrimination-college-admissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted.</a> “The universities also failed to show a connection between the discriminatory means they employ in admissions and their stated goal of diversity.”

Former President Barack Obama Campaigns For Democrats In Milwaukee

Obama Rails Against Trump Administration For Punishing Harvard University

Barack Obama

The Trump administration task force on anti-Semitism has launched a review of billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded grants and contracts to Harvard University.
The task force is scrutinizing $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard and its affiliates, according to an announcement by the Department of Education. The review will also encompass $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard and the federal government.
“Harvard has served as a symbol of the American Dream for generations – the pinnacle aspiration for students all over the world to work hard and earn admission to the storied institution,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/ed-hhs-and-gsa-initiate-federal-contract-and-grant-review-of-harvard-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination – all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry – has put its reputation in serious jeopardy.”
“Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus,” she said.
Harvard President Alan Garber addressed the threat to the university’s federal funding in a Monday <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/our-resolve/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">note</a>.
“The government has informed us that they are considering this action because they are concerned that the University has not fulfilled its obligations to curb and combat antisemitic harassment,” Garber wrote.
“Urgent action and deep resolve are needed to address this serious problem that is growing across America and around the world. It is present on our campus. I have experienced antisemitism directly, even while serving as president, and I know how damaging it can be to a student who has come to learn and make friends at a college or university,” the president said.
The task force is composed of the departments of Education and Health and Human Services and the U.S. General Services Administration.
The announcement came after the Trump administration has cut off $400 million in taxpayer funding from Columbia University. Last month, Columbia agreed to make a series of changes to their campus speech policies and practices, though it did not secure a return of the rescinded funding.
Last week, Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbia-president-steps-down-amid-turmoil-with-trump-admin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped down</a> amid blowback from faculty that the college acceded too much to the Trump administration in the agreement. Claire Shipman, a former CNN correspondent and co-chair of Columbia’s board of trustees, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbias-new-prez-doesnt-appear-to-be-much-better-than-the-last-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped in</a> as interim president.
The Trump administration cut funds to Columbia University after the federal government said the school failed to protect Jewish students amid chaos and unrest on campus over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas students protested, vandalized, and took over buildings on Columbia’s campus.

Trump Anti-Semitism Task Force Scrutinizing Billions In Taxpayer Funds To Harvard

Trump Antisemitism Task Force Scrutinizing Billions In Taxpayer Funds To Harvard

Hamas

Israel

The Harvard School of Public Health suspended its partnership with a Palestinian university whose faculty and students have endorsed and collaborated with Hamas and other terror groups, according to the <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/3/27/harvard-suspends-birzeit-partnership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harvard Crimson</a>.
The suspension follows extensive reporting by The Daily Wire into Birzeit’s terrorist ties that led to 27 members of Congress <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lawmakers-demand-harvard-cut-ties-with-hamas-collaborator-palestinian-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling for</a> Harvard to “immediately shut down this partnership and condemn Birzeit University.”
Harvard suspended the partnership as part of the Harvard School of Public Health’s investigation into Harvard’s FXB Center, which started last summer, School of Public Health spokeswoman Stephanie Simon told the student paper.
A memorandum of understanding between the FXB Center and Birzeit expired in recent months and Harvard decided not to renew it, according to Simon. While an official partnership will not exist, the FXB center, which collaborates with Birzeit faculty and scholars, will reportedly continue.
In an Q&amp;A with the <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/03/a-year-into-role-chan-school-dean-focused-on-driving-change-amid-deep-challenges/">Harvard Gazette</a>, Dean Andrea Baccarelli said a &#8220;blue-ribbon panel of experts&#8221; were appointed to conduct the review of the FXB Center to &#8220;rigorously evaluate the FXB Center’s current status and future potential.&#8221; The review is expected to conclude this spring.
The FXB Center <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-to-host-summer-program-at-palestinian-university-dominated-by-hamas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">co-hosted</a> the “Palestine Social Medicine Course” with Birzeit University last summer, where students learned about “settler colonialism.” The program was originally supposed to take place on Birzeit’s campus in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, until it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/harvard-cancels-program-with-hamas-friendly-university-over-security-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was relocated</a> to Jordan “due to security concerns.” Under the suspension, Harvard will no longer co-sponsor the program this year and Harvard students will not be eligible to participate because of security concerns. Instead the 2025 Social Medicine Course will be sponsored by Birzeit and the World Health Organization.
At the time, Simon told The Daily Wire she was aware of Birzeit’s student body’s association with Hamas, but said it has not affected its program.
“Student government elections at Birzeit typically involve candidates affiliated with each of the major political parties in the region, including Hamas,” she said. “These student government elections are not germane to and have not affected the FXB Center’s work with the scholars and students at Birzeit’s Institute of Community and Public Health.”
Birzeit University <a href="https://archive.ph/eRaU6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called for</a> “glory for the martyrs” after Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, and has a long history of promoting terrorists on its campus. The university has hosted funerals and parades for terrorists on its campus, where several buildings are named after terrorists.
Hanan Ashrawi, chairman of Birzeit University’s board of trustees, denied that Hamas sexually assaulted Israelis on October 7, and has defended Hezbollah and the lynching of Israeli soldiers, according to <a href="https://camera-uk.org/2019/05/14/indy-fails-to-challenge-hanan-ashrawis-claim-shes-always-rejected-violence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CAMERA UK</a>.
On its website, Birzeit <a href="https://www.birzeit.edu/en/about/history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boasts</a> that it is a “thorn in the side of the occupation,” and says it is committed to making an impact through “resistance.”
In 2023, the Birzeit student body elected two blocs affiliated with terrorist organizations — Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP )— into the student government. In the election, which had a 77 percent voter turnout, the Hamas-affiliated Islamic bloc won 25 of the 51 seats, while the PFLP picked up six, according to the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-744135" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jerusalem Post</a>.
In July, five members of the student council were arrested for attempting to carry out a terror attack on behalf of Hamas. The students were found with an assault rifle and thousands of dollars of cash from Hamas, the Times of Israel <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-university-students-in-west-bank-arrested-for-planning-significant-terror-attack/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Birzeit <a href="https://archive.is/q0BXN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared a letter</a> from its faculty and employee union last April which praised the “global intifada,” called for an Israel boycott, and refrained from calling the United States by name, instead opting to use “Turtle Island,” a term used by so-called “anti-colonialists” to suggest that the United States exists on stolen Native American land.
Birzeit’s faculty includes notable terrorist sympathizers, including assistant professor Basil Farraj who wrote <a href="https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/45912" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a eulogy</a> for Walid Daqqa, the leader of a group that kidnapped and killed an IDF soldier.
Philosophy professor Abdaljawad Omar appeared at a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rashida-tlaib-faces-calls-to-be-removed-from-congress-after-speaking-at-terrorist-connected-event" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PFLP-linked conference</a> attended by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, where he praised the October 7 attacks for opening “so many doors of political possibility” and said the “promise of liberation it holds would not have manifested in our conference without the capacity to resist.” Omar also denied accusations of rape and criticized the IDF for refusing to allow Israel to be taken over by the “Palestinian military” in <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/how-and-why-israels-disinformation-campaign-is-enabling-its-massacre-in-gaza/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an op-ed</a> shortly after the attack.
“Israel chose not to engage in negotiations with any groups within its borders, leading to substantial collateral damage in numerous hostage situations,” Omar wrote. “The Palestinian military strategy aimed to delay Israel’s retaking of the area around the strip. In contrast, Israel was intent on swiftly reclaiming the territory, seemingly without regard for the safety of its own citizens.”
Several other schools <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-dark-relationship-between-u-s-universities-and-the-anti-american-school-controlled-by-terrorists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have had relationships</a> with Birzeit, including Rutgers University, which affirmed its relationship with Birzeit in May amid student encampment protests. William Paterson University entered into an <a href="https://www.wpunj.edu/provost/international-academic-agreements/Birziet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreement with</a> the Hamas-run university in 2022 for exchange programs, sharing curricula, and joint degree programs. Other schools, such as MIT, have recently co-hosted conferences, invited Birzeit professors for speaking events, or had student groups visit its campus.
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<div class="p-rich_text_section">A spokeswoman for Harvard University declined to comment.</div>
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Harvard Cuts Ties With Hamas-Friendly Birzeit University 

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