Harvard Refuses Trump Demands, Continues “Reckless” Tradition of Thinking for Itself

CAMBRIDGE — The Trump administration intensified its crusade against higher education this week, freezing billions in research funds after Harvard refused to stop generating independent thoughts without federal permission.

White House officials accused the university of “knowingly engaging in unsanctioned critical thinking,” and demanded immediate reforms—such as replacing “woke lectures” with campus-wide discussions of The Art of the Deal.

“Harvard has a long history of intellectual independence,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly the problem.”

Trump himself took to Truth Social, writing: “Harvard used to make MEN. Now it makes communists who cry during lunch. Zero funding until they start loving America again—or at least me.”

Despite pressure, Harvard released a defiant letter reaffirming its commitment to academic freedom and “unregulated brain use,” drawing cheers from other universities and a subpoena from the Department of Education.

Meanwhile, conservative lawmakers praised the funding freeze and encouraged other schools to “get back to basics—God, country, and doing whatever Trump wants next.”