Media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal issued a scathing critique of President Donald Trump’s Ivy League power grab in an editorial slamming his “overreach.”
The editorial, headlined “Donald Trump Tries to Run Harvard,” said that many of Trump’s demands after he froze $2.2 billion in funds to the university “exceed his power under the Constitution.”
The Journal’s Editorial Board is well known for its right-leaning opinions. Although it never endorses a candidate, it has previously commended some Trump policies and Murdoch himself has long had ties to the president. In February, Trump called Murdoch a “class by himself” and an “amazing guy.”
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In the last few months, the Journal has been severe in its criticisms of Trump’s politics. On Tuesday it ripped his Harvard crackdown, which followed a string of similar moves against Columbia and University of Pennsylvania, among other top universities.
“Few Americans will shed tears for the Cambridge crowd, but there are good reasons to oppose this unprecedented attempt by government to micromanage a private university,” the editorial begins.
The Trump administration has ruled that several universities, including Harvard, have allowed antisemitism to flourish, and the president says his executive orders will weed out discrimination. It has moved to abolish diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and punished students who participated in pro-Palestine protests.
Trump initially sought to strip $9 billion from Harvard’s funds if the school didn’t follow his orders. Harvard then announced that it would not comply with the government’s requirements.
On X, the university account posted a quote from Harvard President Alan Garber: “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."
In retaliation, Trump then froze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants to the school and threatened to take away its tax-exempt status. Trump’s revenge prompted a wave of backlash from high-level Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, who called Trump’s demands “unlawful and ham-handed.”
While the Journal notes that a few of Trump’s prior demands are within the government’s purview, others are completely out of bounds.
The editorial especially takes offense with Trump’s largely undefined “viewpoint diversity” requirement that he says the university must comply with—or else.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the government may not use federal benefits or funds to coerce parties to surrender their constitutional rights,” the Journal writes. “This is what the Administration is doing by demanding Harvard accede to ‘viewpoint diversity.’”
Along with accusing Trump of “overstepping,” the Journal blasts him for cutting funds that go toward lifesaving medical research.
“Harvard could fund some though not all of such research with its $53 billion endowment, but there are sure to be casualties from the Administration’s hostage-taking, including perhaps cancer patients,” it adds.
Plus, the Journal notes, even if the federal government has a duty to protect Jewish students, the university was already enforcing new orders to do so, and Students Against Antisemitism praised the college for “implementing effective long-term changes.”
“The Trump Administration nonetheless demanded last week that Harvard accede to what is effectively a federal receivership under threat of losing $9 billion,” the Journal writes.
The Trump administration “runs off the legal rails by ordering Harvard to reduce ‘governance bloat, duplication, or decentralization,’” and by ordering faculty reviews.
It continues: “These reforms may be worth pursuing, but the government has no business requiring them.”
And with no definition of “viewpoint diversity,” argues the Journal, the president enters a legal limbo.
“Does this mean the English department must hire more Republican faculty or Shakespeare scholars?” the Journal asks, adding that an external monitor will ultimately determine the answer.
If the monitor finds insufficient diversity, however defined, the university is required to hire “a critical mass” of new faculty and students to provide this diversity.
“Must Harvard ask applicants if they support Mr. Trump and impose ideological quotas in hiring and admissions?” asks the Journal.
It adds that Trump is even using a “favorite tool of the left” to slam Harvard with discrimination allegations.
“At least the Biden and Obama Administrations did investigations before bringing down a Title IX hammer,” it adds. “The Trump team is shooting first and investigating later.”
