Latest editorial
Hundreds of demonstrators gather on Cambridge Common during a rally at the historic park in Cambridge, Mass., April 12, 2025, calling on Harvard University to resist what organizers described as attempts by President Trump to influence the institution
THE US government is freezing billions of dollars in funding for Harvard University after the institution vowed to defy its demands to limit activism on campus.
The suspension of more than $2.2 billion (£1.6bn) in grants and $60 million (£45.3m) in contracts marks the seventh time President Donald Trump’s administration has taken such action against one of the nation’s top colleges in an attempt to force compliance with the Trump agenda.
In a letter to Harvard on Friday, the Trump administration called for broad reforms to how the university is run, as well as changes to its admissions policies. It also demanded the university audit views of diversity on campus and stop recognising some student societies.
International solidarity can ensure that Trump and his machine cannot prevail without a level of political and economic cost that he will not want to pay, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
The Trump government is seizing overseas students from their homes and campuses and even off the streets, with no legal grounds and no due process, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
The US president’s universal tariffs mirror the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Act that triggered retaliatory measures, collapsed international trade, fuelled political extremism — and led to world war, warns Dr DYLAN MURPHY