Harvard sues President Trump over funding freeze, cites threats to academic independence

Harvard University sued on Monday (April 21) to block US President Donald Trump from freezing billions of dollars in federal funding after the elite research institution rejected a list of White House demands that it said would undermine its independence. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston said Trump has launched a broad attack on funding for cutting-edge research at major universities as he seeks to rid them of what he describes as antisemitism and ideological bias. Harvard alleges the Trump administration's actions were arbitrary and unlawful and violated the university's First Amendment rights to free speech. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Since his January inauguration, Trump has cracked down on top US universities, saying they mishandled last year's pro-Palestinian protests and allowed antisemitism to fester on campuses. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say their criticism of Israel's military actions in Gaza is wrongly conflated with antisemitism. Harvard is the first university to file a lawsuit in response to Trump's crackdown.