TACO comes to Harvard*
Trump quietly chickened out on his effort to extort $200 million from Harvard University.
“Harvard has been the top target in Trump’s sweeping campaign to exert more control over higher education. Hard-liners in his administration had wanted Harvard to write a check to the U.S. Treasury as part of a deal to address claims that university officials mishandled antisemitism, The New York Times previously reported. But Harvard, wary of backlash from liberal students and faculty, has rejected the idea.
“Trump administration officials have indicated in recent days that the president no longer expects such a payment, according to the Harvard and Trump officials briefed on the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.”
Good. This was never about antisemitism. The idea that Trump cares about anything besides Trump is risible.
Trump has plenty of antisemitic friends. Gestapo Greg Bovino made some antisemitic bleats about an Orthodox Jewish attorney just the other day.
Harvard knows that trying to appease hostage takers just leads to more hostage-taking:
“Recently, some top Harvard officials have grown uneasy about striking any deal while the administration’s actions are drawing scrutiny and rebukes. University negotiators also observed as other deals with the administration have gone awry.
“For instance, Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania agreed to deals that appeared to resolve issues between the school and the administration. Penn agreed to align its policies to the administration’s strict definitions of gender, while Brown agreed to similar changes plus $50 million of spending on workforce programs.
“But the administration later returned to both universities, asking leaders to sign on to a “compact” that would have offered greater access to research funding in exchange for an embrace of Trump’s policies. Both universities rejected the offer.”
Harvard hires smart people. Trump doesn’t. And I don’t think Trump will be sending ICE paramilitary troops into Harvard Yard.
*Update: Trump now claims to be suing for $1 billion. Why not $1 trillion?
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116004776659519984