Donald Trump has fired off a furious missive at a Jewish judge who holds power in his war with Harvard.
Judge Allison Burroughs is presiding over the tense lawsuit to determine whether the Trump administration can legally defund Harvard for not taking a strong enough stance against antisemitism on campus.
While she did not issue a ruling in Monday’s hearing, her barrage of questions toward the administration’s lawyer and her status as an Obama-era appointee was enough for Trump to find fault with her handling of the case.
‘The Harvard case was just tried in Massachusetts before an Obama appointed Judge. She is a TOTAL DISASTER, which I say even before hearing her ruling,’ he wrote in a Truth Social post.
‘She has systematically taken over the various Harvard cases, and is an automatic ‘loss’ for the people of our country!
‘How did this Trump-hating Judge get these cases? When she rules against us, we will IMMEDIATELY appeal, and WIN.’
Trump argued Harvard ‘has $52 billion dollars sitting in the bank, and yet they are anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-America.’
‘Much of this money comes from the USA, all to the detriment of other schools, colleges, and institutions,’ he wrote, adding, ‘we are not going to allow this unfair situation to happen any longer.’
President Donald Trump has fired off a furious missive at a Jewish judge who holds the power in his war with Harvard
Judge Allison Burroughs is presiding over the tense lawsuit to determine whether the Trump administration can legally defund Harvard for not taking a strong enough stance against antisemitism and pro Palestine protests on campus (protest pictured in May, 2024)
Trump vowed to ‘not stop until there is victory’, promising to cut funding to Harvard no matter how much effort it took.
But if Judge Burroughs rules in Harvard’s favour, it could make Trump’s promise hard to deliver on.
Steven Lehotsky, representing Harvard, said at Monday’s hearing the case is about the government trying to control the ‘inner workings’ of the institution.
At Monday’s hearing, Harvard asked to reverse funding freezes in an effort to revive Harvard’s sprawling scientific and medical research operation and hundreds of projects that lost federal money.
A lawyer for the government, Michael Velchik, said the Trump administration has authority to cancel the grants after determining the funding did not align with its priorities, namely Trump’s executive order combating antisemitism.
He argued Harvard allowed antisemitism to flourish at the university following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel.
He said protesters had camped out on campus chanting antisemitic slogans and cited attacks on Jewish students.
‘Harvard claims the government is anti-Harvard. I reject that,’ Velchik, a Harvard alumnus, said.
Trump argued Harvard ‘has $52 Billion Dollars sitting in the Bank, and yet they are anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-America’
While Judge Burroughs (pictured) did not issue a ruling in Monday’s hearing, her barrage of questions toward the administration’s lawyer and her status as an Obama-era appointee was all Trump needed to find fault with her handling of the case
‘The government is pro-Jewish students at Harvard. The government is pro-Jewish faculty at Harvard.’
Judge Burroughs pushed back, at one point describing the government’s assertions as ‘mind-boggling.’
‘What I’m wrestling with is this idea that the executive branch can decide what is discriminatory or racist,’ she said.
‘You’re saying you can terminate a contract for any and all reasons, even if the reason you’re giving is a violation of the Constitution? I don’t think you can justify a contract action based on impermissible suppression of speech.’
Velchik said the case comes down to the government’s choosing how best to spend billions of dollars in research funding.
Judge Burroughs said: ‘Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Harvard has not covered itself in glory on the topic of antisemitism.’
Noting her own Jewish faith, the judge asked what the relationship was between antisemitism and cutting funding to cancer research.
‘You’re not taking away grants from labs that have been antisemitic,’ she noted.
Harvard was one of several high profile college campuses gripped with protests after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023
Despite her strongly worded rebuke, Judge Burroughs did not deliver a verdict at the bench, and is instead expected to issue a written decision at a later date.
Harvard’s lawsuit accused the Trump administration of waging a retaliation campaign against the university after it rejected a series of demands from a federal antisemitism task force in April.
The task force’s demands included sweeping changes related to campus protests, academics and admissions.
Harvard was told to audit the viewpoints of students and faculty and admit more students or hire new professors if the campus was found to lack diverse points of view.
Harvard President Alan Garber says the university has made changes to combat antisemitism but said no government ‘should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.’
