WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday his government may stop giving grants to Harvard University, which has refused to concede to his demands regarding hiring, administration and speech regulation.
“And it looks like we are not going to be giving them any more grants, right Linda?” Trump said in remarks on Wednesday while referring to US Education Secretary Linda McMahon and without elaborating.
“A grant is at our discretion and they are really not behaving well. So it’s too bad.”
Harvard and the US Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.
The Trump administration has targeted Harvard over antisemitism on campus during pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s military assault on Gaza after the October 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has escalated its actions against Harvard. It began a formal review into nearly $9 billion in federal funding for Harvard, demanded the university ban diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and crack down on some pro-Palestinian groups and masks in protests.
It has also urged Harvard to give more details on its foreign ties and threatened to remove its tax-exempt status and its ability to enroll foreign students.
Harvard rejected numerous Trump demands earlier in April, calling them an attack on free speech and academic freedom. It sued the Trump administration after it suspended about $2.3 billion in federal funding for the educational institution, while also pledging to tackle discrimination on campus.
The Trump administration has also threatened other educational institutions with federal funding cuts over issues like pro-Palestinian protests, DEI, climate initiatives and transgender rights.
Protesting groups, including some Jewish ones, have said the administration conflates their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza with antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Harvard University released two reports on Tuesday that found many Jewish, Arab and Muslim students experienced bigotry at its Massachusetts campus during protests last year, with some fearing exclusion for airing political views.
The Trump administration has thus far not initiated probes over Islamophobia or anti-Arab bias.
Trump suggests US may not give more grants to Harvard University
https://arab.news/m828q
Trump suggests US may not give more grants to Harvard University
- Harvard rejected numerous Trump demands earlier in April, calling them an attack on free speech and academic freedom
WHO appeals for $1 bn for world’s worst health crises in 2026
- The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going
GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world’s 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going.
WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva: “A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care.
“In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases,” he warned.
“Yet access to care is shrinking.”
The agency’s emergency request was significantly lower than in recent years, given the global funding crunch for aid operations.
Washington, traditionally the UN health agency’s biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country’s one-year withdrawal notice.
Last year, WHO had appealed for $1.5 billion but Ihekweazu said that only $900 million was ultimately made available.
Unfortunately, he said, the agency had been “recognizing ... that the appetite for resource mobilization is much smaller than it was in previous years.”
“That’s one of the reasons that we’ve calibrated our ask a little bit more toward what is available realistically, understanding the situation around the world, the constraints that many countries have,” he said.
The WHO said in 2026 it was “hyper-prioritising the highest-impact services and scaling back lower?impact activities to maximize lives saved.”
Last year, global funding cuts forced 6,700 health facilities across 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services, “cutting 53 million people off from health care.” Ihekweazu said.
“Families living on the edge face impossible decisions, such as whether to buy food or medicine,” he added, stressing that “people should never have to make these choices.”
“This is why today we are appealing to the better sense of countries, and of people, and asking them to invest in a healthier, safer world.”
