in
Harvard Yard in front of
University Hall reads "
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," May 2024. During the
Gaza war and
genocide, Harvard has been
among universities where there have been
protest and activism in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, which the Trump administration has called antisemitic. Harvard was among the ten US universities targeted by the federal government's
Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism and to which the federal government has cut funding—a move seen as reflecting prescriptions in
Project Esther, part of
The Heritage Foundation's political initiative
Project 2025. According to
The New York Times, "the Trump administration’s biggest target has been Harvard, the country’s richest university. The university has roughly $9 billion at stake in its fight with the federal government." According to university president
Alan Garber, funding for research at Harvard was affected by
a federal grant pause imposed in January 2025. The pause was later halted by a court order. Garber later criticized funding cuts at the
National Institute of Health that would reduce grants at
Harvard Medical School. John Shaw, the vice provost for research, submitted a declaration with a lawsuit filed by thirteen universities, though Harvard did not join the lawsuit. In March, the Trump administration stated it would conduct a review of billion in federal funding to
Harvard University. In April 2025, Harvard University negotiated with the Trump administration for two weeks in an attempt to reach an agreement, such as
that made by Columbia, to avoid the loss of government funding. Afterwards, a government lawyer from the administration sent a letter to Harvard demanding changes in its curriculum, hiring, and admissions policies, including hiring a third party acceptable to the Trump administration to audit "viewpoint diversity". Government officials later said that the letter had been sent in error. In response, the administration announced that it had frozen $2.3 billion in federal research funding for the university. In addition, Trump asked the
Internal Revenue Service to revoke Harvard's
tax-exempt status. The
U.S. Department of Homeland Security also told the university that it needed to share with the government detailed records about its foreign students—including "relevant information" about students holding
student visas that had been involved in "known illegal" or "dangerous" activity, and information about the coursework of all student visa holders—or else it would lose its ability to enroll international students. Harvard responded by filing the
Harvard v. Department of Health and Human Services lawsuit against the Trump administration in the
District Court of Massachusetts, arguing that the freezing of funds was unconstitutional. On May 22, 2025, Department of Homeland Security secretary
Kristi Noem informed Harvard that their
Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification was revoked, and therefore they were now prohibited from hosting international students. Subsequently, US district court judge
Jeffrey White issued an injunction, blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of international students in US universities. On May 23, 2025, Harvard sued the Trump administration for banning them from enrolling international students. The same day, US district court judge
Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the revocation of Harvard's certification. On May 27, 2025, the
State Department ordered all US embassies to pause interviewing applicants for student visas, pending further guidance on "expanded social media vetting for all such applicants". On May 30, 2025, the State Department ordered all US embassies and consulates to conduct "comprehensive and thorough vetting" of the online presence of anyone seeking to visit Harvard from abroad. ==Lawsuit==