Oops, the letter was a mistake.
The Confrontation With Harvard
On April 11, the Trump Administration fired off this Letter to Harvard.
The letter was signed by three top administration officials making demand on Harvard.
The school’s response was to fight. Harvard sent this Response Letter to the Administration on April 14.
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.
No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.
But now that Harvard is fighting, the administration now says it was all a mistake.
Monumental Mistake
The New York Times reports Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With Harvard
It is unclear what prompted the letter to be sent last Friday. Its content was authentic, the three people said, but there were differing accounts inside the administration of how it had been mishandled. Some people at the White House believed it had been sent prematurely, according to the three people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions. Others in the administration thought it had been meant to be circulated among the task force members rather than sent to Harvard.
After Harvard publicly repudiated the demands, the Trump administration raised the pressure, freezing billions in federal funding to the school and warning that its tax-exempt status was in jeopardy.
A senior White House official said the administration stood by the letter, calling the university’s decision to publicly rebuff the administration overblown and blaming Harvard for not continuing discussions.
“It was malpractice on the side of Harvard’s lawyers not to pick up the phone and call the members of the antisemitism task force who they had been talking to for weeks,” said May Mailman, the White House senior policy strategist. “Instead, Harvard went on a victimhood campaign.” [Hoot of the Day: Blame Harvard for the Letter]
Harvard pushed back on the White House’s claim that it should have checked with the administration lawyers after receiving the letter.
The letter “was signed by three federal officials, placed on official letterhead, was sent from the email inbox of a senior federal official and was sent on April 11 as promised,” Harvard said in a statement on Friday. “Recipients of such correspondence from the U.S. government — even when it contains sweeping demands that are astonishing in their overreach — do not question its authenticity or seriousness.”
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Gruenbaum called one of Harvard’s lawyers, according to two people with knowledge of the calls. At first he said he and Mr. Wheeler had not authorized the sending of the letter. Mr. Gruenbaum then slightly changed his story, saying the letter was supposed to be sent at some point, just not on Friday when the dialogue between the two sides was still constructive, one of the people said.
Later Monday, Harvard’s corporation and senior leaders were briefed on Mr. Gruenbaum’s assertion that the letter should not have been sent.
Harvard officials, including several who worked in government earlier in their careers, were shocked that such an important letter — bearing the logos of three government agencies, with signatures of three top officials at the bottom — could be sent by a mistake.
But at that point, there was no way for Harvard to undo what had already been set in motion. The university had already declared that it would rebuff the letter’s demands. And despite claiming that the letter should not have been sent, the Trump administration did not withdraw it.
In response to Harvard’s decision to fight, the White House announced that Mr. Trump was freezing $2.2 billion in grants to the school. Within a day, he was threatening to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
Recap
- Administration accidentally sends letter to Harvard signed by three top administration officials.
- The administration says the letter was not supposed to be sent although this story has been revised.
- Harvard fights back with lawsuit
- The Administration blames Harvard for reacting to the letter
- In response, to Harvard’s response, Trump threatens to take away Harvard’s nonprofit status and freezes $2.2 billion in grants.
What a Circus
There is legitimate debate here as to why any money is going to these universities. I am in favor of cutting these grants.
However, Congress approved that money, so the only way to take it back is with an act of Congress.
Instead, we have another Trumpian circus, in which the administration will not admit its own errors, instead doubles down on them.
Break China, Try Glue
This is what happens when you surround yourself with people whose only skill is willingness to suck up to Trump no matter what he says or does.
The revolving door circus on tariffs is the same story. No one has any idea what Trump’s actual goal is because the story changes every day and the goals are confliction.
It is impossible to get huge amounts of money from tariffs while lowering inflation and bringing production back to the US.
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Got Glue?
By the way, there is no way this was a mistake. If it was, they should all be fired.