Donald J. Trump relentlessly holds grudges when he can’t get his way, just as he banned the Associated Press for calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. Donald again calls to remove Harvard University’s tax-exempt status after the private university refused to bend to his demands for a series of policy changes.
Donald took to Truth Social to say, “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!”
Harvard University’s President Alan Garbar said in a letter last month that the school “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” by agreeing to Donald’s demands, but the co-President is like a dog with a bone, except he doesn’t like dogs.
That was after Donald posted on Truth Social, while starting a war with the nation’s richest and oldest university, “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’ “Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”
This move is blatantly illegal, specifically for a President. Federal law prohibits the president from telling the I.R.S. to conduct specific tax investigations. 26 U.S. Code § 7217 – Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
President Trump’s repeated targeting of @Harvard‘s tax-exempt status is blatantly illegal under federal law.
The IRS cannot be weaponized to target political and ideological opponents — not under Nixon, not under Obama, and not under Trump. https://t.co/RoeNyRoXZp pic.twitter.com/C4LSf7ZH4j
— Nico Perrino (@NicoPerrino) May 2, 2025
A Harvard spokesperson addressed Donald’s renewed attack to ABC News , saying, there’s no “legal basis” to rescind the university’s tax-exempt status and said it would endanger the school’s ability to carry out its mission.
“Such an unprecedented action would endanger our ability to carry out our educational mission,” the spokesperson said. “It would result in diminished financial aid for students, abandonment of critical medical research programs, and lost opportunities for innovation. The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America.”
Harvard faculty members have pledged 10% of their earnings to support the fight against Trump, The Independent reports. “These financial consequences are halting research, limiting graduate student enrollment, and stopping hiring of both faculty and staff,” the faculty wrote in an open letter.
When the Supreme Court gave Donald immunity for any crimes he commits while in office, they opened up a can of worms. The narcissistic co-President’s insatiable desire to control a private university, the press, schools, and every part of our lives is only beginning. And for a guy that doesn’t know the difference between Harlem and Harvard, he’s over his head. Donald won’t win this one.