‘Their Sins Are Forgiven’: Trump Claims He Has Deal With Harvard

The announcement came during an unrelated event at the White House on Tuesday concerning advancements in the treatment of pediatric cancer. Details are still forthcoming. Pressed for more information, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston would only say that “President Trump is reshaping higher education. Stay tuned for further announcements!” But Trump seems to have achieved exactly what he wanted: a splashy settlement.

The Trump administration launched a multi-pronged assault on Cambridge earlier this year, freezing more than $2.4 billion in federal research grants in response to allegations that the school, which predates the nation, continued to promote so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and discriminated against Jewish students and faculty. During an August cabinet meeting, Trump told McMahon, “We want nothing less than $500 million from Harvard. Don’t negotiate, Linda. They’ve been very bad.”

The transgressions of that university now seem to be forgiven. Trump previewed a deal whereby Harvard pays a $500 million fine and operates “a series of trade schools” to train students in subjects like artificial intelligence and automotive engineering. He called it “a big investment in trade schools done by very smart people.”

The proposed deal would end hostilities between a populist administration hell-bent on humbling progressive institutions of higher education and the oldest college in the nation.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore about $2.2 billion in federal funding for Harvard earlier this month, despite finding that the Ivy League was “plagued by antisemitism.” McMahon insisted that the court had erred, telling RealClearPolitics in an interview earlier this month that she expected the ruling would be overturned on appeal.

“Harvard said this was a First Amendment case. It certainly was not,” McMahon told RCP. “We’re not trying to shut down anybody’s right to free speech, but we certainly want to make sure there’s no bias on campus.”

A deal seemed almost within reach over the summer, but as negotiations dragged on, a fissure emerged within the administration. Some wanted to deliver the splashy settlement. A camp of hardliners pushed for more permanent reform, insisting that a one-time $500 million fine would not cow a university with a $53 billion endowment – a sum larger than the GDP of some smaller first-world countries.

The hardliners had pressed for a sort of independent monitor to ensure compliance from Harvard, a condition included in a similar deal that the administration reached with Columbia University. Harvard has strongly rejected that idea.

But McMahon embraced the idea of “a monitor on campus” for Harvard or some similar enforcement mechanism, insisting during her RCP interview that “there has to be something that is written to continue to make sure this is not overturned.”

Harvard did not return requests for comment by press time.

Pressed for details, a spokesman for the education secretary was similarly tight-lipped. “As President Trump said, the administration is actively working toward a deal with Harvard that holds them accountable for egregious civil rights violations and discrimination on campus while restoring generous taxpayer dollar support to the institution,” the spokesman said.

“The administration continues to work aggressively on a deal that is in the best interest of the American people.”