Trump's crazed attack on Harvard

After raging at Harvard earlier this month, President Donald Trump is now revoking the university’s right to receive foreign students. The administration sent an unhinged letter to Harvard making the announcement while demanding extensive information about international students, a grotesque abuse of power. [...] Legal experts quickly dismissed the move as lawless.

  New Republic

Yeah. Hello. Welcome to Trump 2.0.

The Trump administration on Thursday said it would halt Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, taking aim at a crucial funding source for the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college in a major escalation of the administration’s efforts to pressure the elite school to fall in line with the president’s agenda.

The administration notified Harvard about the decision — which could affect about a quarter of the school’s student body — after a back-and-forth in recent weeks over the legality of a sprawling records request as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation.

[...]

The latest move intensifies the administration’s attempt to upend the culture of higher education by directly subverting the ability of one of the nation’s premier universities to attract the best and brightest students from all over the world. That capability, across all of academia, has long been one of the greatest sources of academic, economic and scientific strength in America.

[...]

The university sued the Trump administration last month over the government’s attempt to impose changes to its curriculum, admissions policies and hiring practices.

[...]

The Department of Homeland Security said the action applied to current and future students.

  NYT

So, what? Are they supposed to put current students out on the street? Perhaps to be picked up by ICE?

“Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students, and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the department said in a news release after Ms. Noem posted the administration’s letter on social media later on Thursday.

Jesus H Christ. And, if they transfer, are they then not subject to being banned? WTF? Is it only Harvard that can't enroll foreign students? This is simply madness. Par for the administration of a madman.

More than 200 university and college presidents in a joint statement accused U.S. President Donald Trump's administration of political interference in higher education, banding together after Harvard University said the government was threatening its independence.

The statement, signed by presidents from institutions such as Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Columbia, the University of Hawaii and Connecticut State Community College, criticized what it described as "the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education."

[...]

Tuesday's joint statement is the latest show of opposition from U.S. higher-education leaders as the Trump administration seeks to leverage federal funding of medical and other scientific research to overhaul U.S. academia, which Trump says is gripped by antisemitic, anti-American, Marxist and "radical left" ideologies.

  Reuters

UPDATE 05/24/2025:

UPDATE 05/25/2025: