By Molly Goddard
2:34am PDT, Apr 25, 2025
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Donald Trump wants to know if colleges are getting money from other countries.
On Wednesday, April 23, the commander-in-chief signed an executive order to ensure universities are transparent with his administration about the foreign funds they are given to run their schools.
Keep reading to learn why Trump wants to know about the monetary transactions…
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According to a report from Americans for Public Trust via the
New York Post, elite colleges and universities have allegedly collected $60 billion from other countries. With Donald Trump's executive action, he makes clear he will revoke government funds from schools who don't want to comply.
"There are currently laws on the books requiring certain disclosures of universities when they accept large foreign gifts," White House staff secretary
Will Scharf explained to the president during a meeting with press in the
Oval Office.
"We believe that certain universities, including, for example, Harvard, have routinely violated this law and this law has not been effectively enforced. So, this executive order charges your departments and agencies with enforcing the laws on the books with respect to foreign gifts to American universities," he continued.
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According to Americans for Public Trust's research,
Harvard allegedly pocketed $3.2 billion, Cornell pocketed $2.8 billion, Carnegie Mellon took in $2.8 billion and the University of Pennsylvania claimed $2.5 billion from other nations.
"For far too long, foreign funds have flowed to U.S. colleges and universities with inadequate transparency or oversight," a White House document obtained by
Politico stated. "Undisclosed foreign funding raises serious concerns about potential foreign influence, national security risks and compromised academic integrity."
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In March, Donald Trump targeted universities for not cracking down on antisemitism and threatened to take away millions in federal funding if they did not follow his orders.
In April, Harvard sued the administration after the university claimed the
Republican leader took away $2.2 billion for failing to get rid of their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
"We are defending what I believe is one of the most important lynchpins of the American economy and way of life: our universities," Harvard's president
Alan Garber said in a statement.
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On Thursday, April 24, Donald Trump unleashed on Harvard in a series of messages shared on Truth Social and took aim at the establishment hiring an attorney who also works for the Trump Organization.
"Harvard is an Anti-Semitic, far left Institution, as are numerous others, with students being accepted from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart," he wrote. "The place is a liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER AND HATE. It is truly horrific! Now, since our filings began, they act like they are all 'American Apple Pie.'"
"Harvard is a threat to
Democracy, with a lawyer, who represents me, who should therefore be forced to resign, immediately, or be fired. He's not that good, anyway, and I hope that my very big and beautiful company, now run by my sons, gets rid of him ASAP!" Trump added.
