Trump’s $1 Billion Demand Resets Stakes of Harvard Talks

The Lowell House on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Photographer: Mel Musto/Bloomberg

After a months-long lull in the White House’s battle with Harvard University, President Donald Trump has thrust the school back into the spotlight and dramatically ratcheted up the financial stakes of their showdown.

In a late-night social media post, Trump demanded $1 billion in “damages” from the university — a marked increase from the $500 million settlement the parties appeared to be closing in on last year to resolve a standoff over government research funding.