Trump Admin Pulls $400M in Grants from Columbia University!

Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced on Friday that she had a “productive meeting” with Columbia University’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong.

“Had a productive meeting with Columbia’s interim president Katrina Armstrong today. Look forward to working together to protect all students on their campus. The Trump administration will not allow the continued harassment and threats of violence against students,” McMahon posted on X.

The decision to pull federal funding comes amid ongoing controversy over large pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia and other universities following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war.

Columbia has faced multiple federal investigations into alleged violations of antidiscrimination laws. In 2023, the Biden administration’s Department of Education launched an inquiry into Columbia and six other universities for potential violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In May, another investigation was opened to examine allegations of anti-Palestinian discrimination.

Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights and head of the Justice Department’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, emphasized that revoking federal funds is just one of several measures being taken to address the rise in antisemitism.

“This is only the beginning,” Terrell stated.

Following the announcement, Brian Cohen, executive director of The Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life at Columbia and Barnard, called the decision a necessary wake-up call for the university.

“Columbia has an antisemitism crisis, and for months, I have worked with faculty, staff, students, parents, and alumni to urge the administration to act quickly to address this crisis and avoid lasting damage to the university,” Cohen said. “I hope this federal action prompts Columbia’s administration and trustees to take antisemitism and the harassment of Jewish students and faculty seriously so that these grants can be restored, the vital work of the university can continue, and Columbia can once again be a place where the Jewish community thrives.”

Republicans have long criticized universities for allowing pro-Palestinian protests in response to the Gaza conflict. On the campaign trail last year, Trump labeled demonstrators as “pro-Hamas radicals”land suggested they should be deported.

Even the Biden administration took issue with university leadership, particularly after several college presidents sidestepped questions about antisemitism during a House Republican hearing months after the Hamas attack. The fallout from that hearing led to the resignations of Harvard President Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill.

During Trump’s first term, his administration only once withheld public education funding, pulling $4 million from Chicago Public Schools over its handling of sexual assault allegations.