☕ Harvard v Trump, explained

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After taking action against Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, Northwestern, and Brown, Harvard University is the latest college in the headlines after rejecting the Trump administration’s demands to eliminate particular policies and tighten rules that govern on-campus protests. Need a bit more of an explainer? Keep reading.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• A coalition of small businesses has launched legal action in the US Court of International Trade, asking it to block some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The group says that President Trump does not have the power to enact tariffs without an act of Congress. So far, President Trump has used executive orders to enact tariffs, including the “Liberation Day” tranche and additional China tariffs targeted by the lawsuit. Liberty Justice Center, who represents the coalition, argued that tariffs cannot be imposed by executive order as the power to tariff lies exclusively with Congress.

• Russia has said it was targeting a meeting of senior Ukrainian military officers in Sunday’s strike on the border town of Sumy that killed 34 civilians, including two children. Two missiles, which Ukrainians allege were carrying cluster munitions, exploded over Sumy near a church crowded with Palm Sunday attendees. Russia condemned Ukraine for using civilians as human shields, whilst Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a strong response against Russia. Outside the warzone, European leaders condemned the Russian action, while President Trump called for an end to the war. Trump blamed President Zelenskyy, President Putin, and former President Joe Biden for its inception.

• Pharmatutical giant Pfizer has abandoned the testing of danuglipron, a pill designed to treat obesity. The cancellation comes just before the drug was due to enter late-stage testing after a participant suffered a liver injury possibly caused by the drug. Late-stage testing is the development period just before the drug is submitted to regulatory agencies for approval. Pfizer says it will continue with other experimental oral weight loss drugs in the industry-wide race to develop non-injectible obesity treatments.

• An all-female crew featuring stars Katy Perry and Gayle King landed safely after completing the first all-female space mission in 60 years. Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s space company, flew the six women to the Kármán line, the internationally recognised boundary of space, where they remained for three minutes before returning to earth. The flight also carried Jeff Bezos’s fiance, who said she was excited to return to earth as she had to get married. Bezos’s wedding is scheduled to occur in Venice during the Summer.

I’ve got 1 minute

President Trump met with Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele yesterday, a key ally in the administration’s immigration crackdown.

The meeting came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal court order requiring the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian man mistakenly deported and imprisoned in El Salvador’s superprison.

Bukele told the press he wouldn’t release or return Garcia and welcomed Trump’s suggestion that “homegrown criminals” could also be deported to his country.

So, who is Bukele, and how did he become such a fast US ally?

Bukele’s Crime Crackdown

Since taking office in 2019, Bukele has overseen a dramatic drop in crime. Annual murders fell from 2,398 in 2019 to 114 in 2024.

His crackdown came with widespread suspension of due process and human rights abuses after a 2022 law allowed police to arrest and imprison suspected gang members without a warrant.

Many detainees are held in El Salvador’s mega-prison, CECOT, which holds up to 40,000 inmates in notoriously harsh conditions.

Deal with the US

At the start of Trump’s second term, Bukele agreed to house undocumented immigrants the US labels gang members in CECOT in exchange for $6 million.

Recently, Trump used an 18th-century law to deport 238 suspected Venezuelan gang members to prison. The administration has since deported more alleged gang members to the prison by using traditional immigration powers as the administration battles court restrictions on the use of the Alien Enemies Act.

The Garcia Case

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian man with ‘protected status’ due to the likelihood he would face danger in El Salvador, was deported to CECOT by mistake. A federal court ordered the government to “facilitate” his return, and the Supreme Court upheld this.

In the Oval Office, Bukele refused to release or return Garcia, claiming he lacked the power to return him and newly alleging the man is a terrorist.

President Trump praised his Salvadorian counterpart throughout the meeting.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said the US relationship with El Salvador was an "example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere".

I’ve got 2 minutes

The Trump administration has cancelled $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University, after the institution refused to comply with a list of demands relating to its staff and students.

The move follows weeks of Government pressure on universities to adopt measures targeting antisemitism and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in hiring and admissions practices.

Officials warned that non-compliance could cost institutions billions in federal funding.

Background

Harvard is one of the world’s most prestigious universities. Its alumni and faculty have earned more than 160 Nobel Prizes, most recently in 2024.

In 2024, the Government supplied 68% of Harvard’s outside research funding.

Since coming to power, the Trump administration has launched investigations into several universities, including Harvard, over claims of antisemitism, and DEI hiring and admissions practices.

The effort, led by a federal task force, was spurred by 2024 pro-Palestine college protests. Universities said at the time they were seeing increased antisemitism on campuses.

Separately, in a June 2023 ruling, the Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admissions, overturning a precedent that had stood since the 1970s.

DEI and antisemitism probes have already led to hundreds of millions in federal funding being cancelled or frozen at several top universities.

Harvard crackdown

On 31 March, the White House announced a review of Harvard’s federal contracts and grants, “to combat antisemitism”.

Then, on Friday, the administration sent a letter to Harvard President Dr. Alan Garber, saying the university had “failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment,” and detailed a list of demands.

These included requiring Harvard to hire independent auditors to ensure its departments have diverse viewpoints, and are not antisemitic.

The Government also demanded oversight of hiring, promotions, and admissions, and the rejection of applications from non-US citizens deemed “hostile to American values.”

To retain funding, Harvard would also need to report any international student accused of breaking university rules to the Government.

Response

Dr. Garber argued the demands violate Harvard’s right to free speech and exceed the Government’s authority.

“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,” he said.

In response, the White House announced it had frozen more than a quarter of Harvard’s federal research grants and contracts.