Harvard vs Trump: The rightwing war on US colleges

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Harvard vs Trump: The rightwing war on US colleges

The context: Ever since the summer of 2024, there has been increasing pressure on universities to crack down on on-campus Palestine protests. A number of them—including Columbia—called in the cops, expelled students etc. But none of this satisfied the incoming Trump White House—which has a much bigger plan to remake US liberal arts education entirely—and bring universities under direct government control. The elite colleges are just the first in line.

Meet the cabal: The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism has 20 bureaucrats tasked with a single goal: To “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses.” But the real goal is much more sweeping—as Trump promised on the campaign trail:

We are going to choke off the money to schools that aid the Marxist assault on our American heritage and on Western civilization itself. The days of subsidizing communist indoctrination in our colleges will soon be over.

The weapon of mass destruction: in this case is federal funding. Over the past month, the government has threatened to cut billions of dollars given to elite universities to subsidize their research programs. First in line: Columbia University—which lost $400 million. The university immediately caved—agreeing to “place its Middle Eastern studies department under different oversight and to create a new security force of 36 ‘special officers’ empowered to arrest and remove people from campus.”

Up next, transgender athletes: Trump supporters have long been furious at “woke” policies that embrace diversity. Their greatest grouse: inclusion of trans athletes on women's teams. Last month, the White House froze $175 million of federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania for committing that cardinal sin. FYI: Trump has also signed a sweeping executive order called "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports"—which cuts federal funding to any educational institution—including schools.

Goodbye, climate research: The very notion of climate change is too ‘woke’ for the Trumpistas. Princeton’s prestigious climate research department lost $4 million because “it exposed students and other young people to ‘climate anxiety’.”

Enter, the Harvard justice league: The White House is threatening to withhold $2.2 billion in federal funding from Harvard. Until now, other universities were too scared to issue more than timid objections. But on Monday, Harvard officials penned a blog post saying ‘enough is enough’:

The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement in principle.

But, but, but: It is important to note that Harvard caved to all and any demand linked to ‘anti-semitism’. It rehauled its Middle East program—pushing out faculty deemed to be ‘anti-Israel’. The open letter even boasts of these kinds of measures:

Over the past 15 months, Harvard has undertaken substantial policy and programmatic measures… As a result, Harvard is in a very different place today from where it was a year ago. These efforts, and additional measures the university will be taking against antisemitism, not only are the right thing to do but also are critical to strengthening Harvard’s community as a place in which everyone can thrive.

In other words, Harvard is not going to bat for Palestinians or their supporters—be it students or professors.

The real sticking point: is an expanded list of demands issued by the White House—emboldened at early signs of surrender:

Share all hiring data with the administration, and permit audits of its hiring process until at least 2028.
Provide all admissions data to the federal government—be it accepted or rejected students—sorted by race, country of origin, GPA etc.
Shut down all diversity and inclusion programs.
Place departments with ‘egregious records on antisemitism’—such as the Divinity School and the Public Health and Medical Schools—under an external audit.
Conduct plagiarism checks on all current and prospective faculty.

This is a battle over control—the rights of Harvard not the right to free speech—at least not of anyone other than the administration. But everyone—including Barack Obama—is busy congratulating Harvard for taking a brave stance for freedom.

Trump strikes back: The White House has promptly threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status—and freeze another $2.26 billion in grants. Expect more such threats in the days to come.

What’s next: As always, the action will move to the courts. Nine major research universities and three university associations sued the administration to restore $400 million in funding. There’s a similar lawsuit filed by Harvard faculty, as well. Meanwhile, college officials are scrambling to establish a back channel to Trump—including lobbyists and, ofc, Jewish activists—who might offer cover now that anything Palestine has become toxic on campuses.

The big picture: The man who helped craft the blueprint to take down these universities—Christopher Rufo—is blunt about what this lot want:

Machiavelli has a great line, where he talks about the salutary effects of a kind of spectacular public punishment, In his case, it was like dismembering the prince, but in this case, it’s, metaphorically, putting the screws on one of these universities in a spectacular way, and then watching them implode.

We are instead reminded of Martin Niemöller’s Holocaust-era quote—tweaked slightly for the Trump era:

First they came for the Palestinians, but I did not speak out—because I was not Palestinian. Then they came for the immigrants, but I did not speak out—because I was not an immigrant. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.

Reading list: AFP via The Hindu offers the big picture on the dispute. Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) is best on the plan to takedown elite universities. You can read Harvard’s full response to Trump’s demands here.

Beware of Americans: EU officials embrace burner phones

The European Union will issue burner phones and basic laptops to commissioners and other senior officials travelling to the IMF and World Bank meetings next week:

They said the measures replicate those used on trips to Ukraine and China, where standard IT kit cannot be brought into the countries for fear of Russian or Chinese surveillance. “They are worried about the US getting into the commission systems,” said one official.

The bigger picture: In the past, there have been fears that the Trump administration will use its special relationship with the EU and other allies to tip off Russia. But this level of paranoia marks a new low of distrust. In the words of one EU official: “The transatlantic alliance is over.” Well, it is certainly very frayed. (Financial Times, paywalled, The Register)

New/old real estate dhamaka: GST on maintenance fees

The context: Just the other day, Indians who claim HRA were served with unpleasant income tax notices. The reason: They did not deduct 2% as tax from their monthly rent—and pay it to the government. Even more shocking: This has been a rule since 2018. But no one had bothered to enforce it.

The latest dhamaka: If your maintenance charge is higher than Rs 7,500 a month—and your Resident Welfare Associations’s annual turnover is more than Rs 20 lakh—you have to pay an 18% GST. Again, this rule has been on the books since 2019, but most housing societies simply never followed it. Again, tax officials have suddenly woken up to its existence—and are pressuring RWAs to register for GST and start collecting taxes if they meet certain conditions.

What this means: If your apartment meets both criteria, get ready to pay more. For example, if your monthly charges are Rs 9,000, you’ll be shelling out Rs 1,620 extra in GST. Total = Rs 10,620/month. Btw, the fee is applied per flat. But in case of a rental, the landlord will presumably pass the pain on to the tenant. So tenants beware!

The silver lining: RWAs can claim Input Tax Credit (ITC). That means they can recover the GST they pay on things like generators, water pumps, repair services, and even pipes and taps. Before GST, these were sunk costs. Now, they can offset them—at least a bit. New Indian Express and Economic Times have the best explainers on this ‘new’ tax demand.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Swiggy's diving into professional services with Pyng, an AI-powered app offering experts in over 100 fields, from yoga to tax planning—currently live in Bangalore.
India’s eyeing a $4 billion push to join the big leagues in electronics design—with a new scheme to back homegrown products and components.
Google’s launching DolphinGemma, an AI model to chat with dolphins, and it’s set for its first test this summer.
Wall Street’s biggest banks are raking it in—trade war jitters have sent investors scrambling, and trading desks at Goldman, BofA, and others are booming.
Meet Neptune, the new short-form video app ready to challenge TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts—where creators can hide likes and follower counts.
China accuses the US of launching 'advanced' cyberattacks, names three NSA agents and ties University of California and Virginia Tech to the breach.
In the latest blow to US-China trade, Beijing halts Boeing jet deliveries and orders airlines to stop buying aircraft parts from American firms.
Trump’s tariffs hit China’s chip traders hard, with a local electronics market showing just how quickly the supply chain crumbled under the pressure.

sports & entertainment

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense team wants to know if potential jurors are sensitive to sex and violence before the trial kicks off.
Johnny Depp’s back in Hollywood, with filming underway for the thriller ‘Day Drinker’, co-starring Penélope Cruz and Madelyn Cline.
The Punjab Kings have broken the record for the lowest successful defence in IPL history—their measly total of 111 was 16 runs too many for KKR to breach. Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen starred for Punjab with the ball, taking seven wickets between them.
Ailing former cricketer Vinod Kambli will now get Rs 30,000 a month for life—plus medical aid—from Sunil Gavaskar’s CHAMPS Foundation.

health & environment

The Print has a good read on how a Eurasian Griffon, nursed back to health after a fall in India, is now soaring over Afghanistan, back on its migratory journey.
Babies' and kids' mattresses are giving off toxic chemicals and flame retardants linked to hormonal and developmental disorders, warn two new studies.
Hacking GoPros to save the Bermuda petrel, a bird thought extinct for 300 years—DIY conservation tech is bringing it back to life.

meanwhile, in the world

White House floats drastic cuts to State Department and key global funds, but lawmakers may rewrite the plan before it sees the light of day.
Trump’s new plan for Greenland? A UBI for residents, funded by American taxpayers.
Autopsies reveal that paramedics and rescue workers shot dead in last month’s Israeli attack in Gaza were mostly shot in the head or chest, with some suffering shrapnel wounds.
As the government accelerates efforts to strip their legal status, visa cancellations are sparking panic among international students with hundreds fearing deportation.
Saudi Arabia has stepped in to pay off Syria’s World Bank debts—marking its first financial support for the country since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad in 2024.
A day after hinting Iran could enrich uranium at low levels, US envoy Steve Witkoff backtracked—now insisting Tehran must scrap its entire nuclear program for any Trump-approved deal.
Germany joins the US in moving to deport pro-Palestine activists—an American and three Europeans—despite no criminal charges being filed.
Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal, offering a 45-day break in exchange for the release of 11 Israeli captives, hits a snag as Hamas refuses to disarm.
New York City has now declared April 14 as Dr BR Ambedkar Day, honouring his legacy in the city’s immigrant heart.
Al Jazeera has a good read on how Bhutan is betting big on Bitcoin—using crypto gains to double civil servant salaries and fight off an economic slump and brain drain.
Also on Al Jazeera: two years of war in Sudan—where striking animated maps show how 14 million people, nearly a third of the population, have been forced to flee their homes.
Singapore heads to the polls on May 3, the election commission has announced.
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake rattled the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan.
South Korea ignored repeated warnings about bird strikes at Muan airport—until 179 people died in the Jeju Air crash.
The Vatican’s making Antoni Gaudí—architect of the iconic Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona—a step closer to sainthood, honoring his "heroic virtues."
Tourists are ghosting the US—Luxembourg, Canada, and Austria lead the snub, as non-citizen air arrivals drop over 11% since March 2024, spelling a multi-billion-dollar blow to the economy.
London’s oldest Indian restaurant, Veeraswamy, which once served Winston Churchill and Marlon Brando, is fighting to stay open as the Crown Estate refuses to renew its lease ahead of its 100th anniversary.

meanwhile, in India

The Enforcement Directorate has hit Congress MPs Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with charges in the National Herald money-laundering case.
Retail inflation dips to 3.34%, its lowest since 2019, thanks to falling food prices—analysts expect it to stay under 4%, possibly triggering another 50 bps rate cut by the RBI.
Pakistan tried to frame the 26/11 Mumbai attacks as the work of "disgruntled Indian Muslims," set against the backdrop of attacks by the terror group, Indian Mujahideen, which is backed by Pakistan's ISI, says former intelligence chief Ashok Prasad.
Indian Express has the lowdown on why bike taxis, though not banned by the Karnataka HC, might still vanish from Bangalore’s streets.
“What is happening in this High Court?”—the Supreme Court slams Allahabad HC for a series of jaw-dropping remarks blaming women victims in sexual offence cases.
Telangana just declared heatwaves a ‘state-specific disaster’—and is offering Rs 4 lakh to families of victims, as the deadly threat of sunstroke continues to fly under the radar.
Only 8% of India’s police force are women—and it’s just 12% in the IPS, says the India Justice Report 2025.

Four things to see

One: Another day, another sandstorm in Asia. After India and China, Iraq experienced the worst sandstorm of the year—which turned its skies orange. The cause: “heavy waves of dust” blown across the country from eastern Saudi Arabia. See a clip of the apocalyptic sky below. (New York Times)

Two: Let’s face it: The only Democrats that Americans like are old white men. Kamala may have bombed spectacularly, but senator Bernie Sanders is still drawing huge crowds on his ‘Fight the Oligarchy’ tour—even in blood-red states like Utah. Vanity Fair reports: “The crowd booed at the mention of ‘the President of the United States,’ to which Sanders quipped, ‘I agree’.” Check out the insane-sized crowds at his rallies below. (Utah News Dispatch)

Three: Say hello to the newest member of the IPL broadcast team—a robotic camera dog:

The robot, coloured in a brown fur-like material with a camera in place of a face, can run, jump, and capture what is being dubbed ‘pet vision’ for cricket matches. Equipped with a camera comparable to a GoPro action camera, it is designed to provide fans with dynamic and immersive footage from unique angles around the pitch.

You can see a cute video of commentator Danny Morrison introducing the robot dog below. (The Telegraph)

Four: Turns out Open AI CEO Sam Altman puts his two-month old baby to sleep in a smart cradle by a Bangalore based startup called Cradlewise—which costs a whopping $1,999 in the US or Rs 150,000 in India. See how it works below. (Indian Express)