US President Donald Trump made the announcement Tuesday that he will withdraw federal funds from any educational institution that allows “illegal protests,” heightening tensions over campus protests about the Israel-Gaza conflict. The order, shared on Truth Social, is to be applied to colleges, schools, and universities across the country, with Trump warning that they would suffer drastic consequences.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that permits illegal protests,” Trump wrote. Foreign agitators would be able to be deported, he continued, while American students would get expelled or even arrested.
The action comes after Trump’s wider effort to reform the US education system, earlier threatening to withhold funds from institutions over race policies, gender identity, transgender student athletes, and vaccine requirements. His latest move comes as Congress investigates anti-Semitism on university campuses, specifically at Columbia University, where officials have been accused of not doing enough to protect Jewish students during demonstrations against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The federal government is also under review for more than $50 million in contracts with Columbia University as part of this enforcement. Trump’s administration also introduced a task force last month, headed by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, to probe anti-Semitism in schools.
“Americans have seen with horror Jewish students attacked and harassed on the campuses of elite universities,” McMahon wrote in a statement.
The brouhaha has elicited fiery debates within Congress, in which university administrations have been queried on their approach to handling protests on campus. Trump himself had earlier proposed dissolving the Department of Education and transferring curriculum power to states.
The response by the administration highlights a wider tension between maintaining free speech and safeguarding students, especially for protests connected with the Israel-Gaza conflict that has been taking place.
