E-Paper
Did Trump just express anger amid claims Harvard rejected Barron Trump? ‘It’s too much’
Donald Trump reacted amid rumors that Harvard University has rejected his youngest and only son with Melania, Barron Trump.
Donald Trump reacted amid rumors that Harvard University has rejected his youngest and only son with Melania, Barron Trump, due to a new ban on the Ivy League school's ability to accept international students. The school has reportedly sued the Trump administration.
Harvard's enrollment of foreign students under the F-1 visa program was revoked on Thursday after the Department of Homeland Security accused the university of “creating an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students.” It added that “existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status.”
Harvard filed a case in district court on Friday, alleging that the restriction implemented by the Trump administration was a "blatant violation" of the Administrative Procedures Act, the Due Process Clause, and the First Amendment.
Harvard and the Trump administration have been at odds since his return to the White House, leading to the freezing of federal funds.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island is among those who have speculated about potential hidden agendas after seeing viral posts stating that Barron was turned down by Ivy League powerhouses Columbia and Harvard.
“Can’t help but wonder how many Trumps got rejected by Harvard,” Sheldon wrote on X.
While there is no official verification that Barron was turned down or even sought admission to Columbia or Harvard, the teen did flout his family's alma mater custom.
Trump expresses new frustrations with Harvard University
Trump voiced further complaints with regard to Harvard University, claiming that the institution ought to disclose the identities of international students and that American students are being denied admission because spots are being taken by international students.
“I don’t have a problem with foreign students. But it shouldn’t be 31 percent. It’s too much, because we have Americans who want to go there, and to other places, and they can’t go there because there’s 31 percent foreigners,” the US President stated from the tarmac in Morristown, New Jersey.
Trump has warned of cutting Harvard's federal funding due to disputes over his attempts to terminate all diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) programs and controversies over pro-Palestinian protests on campus, which the Trump administration has partially attributed to foreign extremists.
“Look, part of the problem with Harvard is that, they are about 31 percent, almost 31 percent of foreigners coming to Harvard. We give them billions of dollars, which is ridiculous. We do grants, which we’re probably not going to be doing much grants anymore to Harvard, but they’re 31 percent, but they refuse to tell us who the people are. We want to know the people.”
Trump, however, asserted that “we wouldn't have a problem” with many of the international students.
