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President Donald Trump criticized the federal judge presiding over Harvard University’s lawsuit to restore billions of dollars in federal research grants, predicting the government will lose the case but pledging to appeal and cut off future funding to the Ivy League school.
Oral arguments began Monday in Boston as Harvard seeks to recover roughly $2.6 billion in research funds withheld by the Trump administration. The administration has conditioned the restoration of funds on the university implementing new measures, including addressing antisemitism on campus and allowing external oversight of hiring and admissions policies.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, is overseeing the case. Burroughs also issued a preliminary injunction last month against the administration’s move to block foreign student visas, a separate legal challenge brought by Harvard.
“The Harvard case was just tried in Massachusetts before an Obama-appointed Judge,” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. “She is a TOTAL DISASTER, which I say even before hearing her Ruling. She has systematically taken over the various Harvard cases and is an automatic ‘loss’ for the People of our Country!”
Trump also targeted Harvard’s endowment, which Forbes estimates at about $52 billion, the largest of any U.S. academic institution.
“Harvard has $52 Billion Dollars sitting in the Bank, and yet they are anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-America,” Trump wrote. “Much of this money comes from the U.S.A., all to the detriment of other Schools, Colleges, and Institutions, and we are not going to allow this unfair situation to happen any longer.”
The president questioned why Burroughs was assigned multiple cases involving Harvard, suggesting the process lacked transparency. He also referred to a similar situation with U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., who has handled several Trump administration cases, including those involving mass deportations under the Alien Enemies Act and the use of encrypted communication platforms like Signal.
“How did this Trump-hating Judge get these cases?” Trump wrote. “When she rules against us, we will IMMEDIATELY appeal, and WIN. Also, the Government will stop the practice of giving many Billions of Dollars to Harvard, much of which had been given without explanation. It is a longtime commitment to Fairness in Funding Education, and the Trump Administration will not stop until there is VICTORY. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”