Trump re-ups his threat to strip Harvard University’s tax-exempt status

By SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump on Friday re-upped his threat to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status escalating a showdown with the first major college that has defied the administration s efforts to crack down on campus activism We are going to be taking away Harvard s Tax Exempt Status Trump wrote on his social media site Friday morning from Palm Beach Florida where he is spending the weekend It s what they deserve The president has questioned the fate of Harvard s tax-exempt status which a majority of U S colleges and universities have ever since the school refused to comply with the administration s demands for broad cabinet and leadership changes revisions to its admissions framework and audits of how diversity is viewed on the campus That prompted the administration to block more than billion in federal grants to the Cambridge Massachusetts institution Related Articles Americans see more overreach from the president than from judges an AP-NORC poll finds Trump signs executive order directing federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR Trump denies tragedy aid tells states to do more Did Donald Trump or ABC News choose who would interview the president Why does it matter Army plans for a foreseen parade on Trump s birthday call for soldiers AP learns The Treasury Department directed a senior official at the Internal Revenue Function to begin the process of revoking Harvard s tax-exempt status shortly after a social media post from Trump in mid-April questioning it although the White House has suggested that the tax agency s scrutiny of Harvard began before Trump s populace comments targeting the school The White House has also declared any IRS actions will be conducted independently of the president Federal tax law prohibits senior members of the executive branch from requesting that an IRS employee conduct or terminate an audit or scrutiny Democrats say Trump s actions against Harvard are purely political The Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer along with Massachusetts two Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and the Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon called for an inspector general research into Trump s attempts to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status Trump s move raises troubling constitutional questions including whether the president is trying to squelch Harvard s free speech rights and whether the revocation of its tax-exempt status will deprive the university of its due process rights the senators wrote in a letter Friday to Heather Hill the acting Treasury inspector general for tax administration Trump s battle against Harvard is part of a broader campaign the administration is framing as an effort to root out antisemitism on college campuses But the White House also sees a political upside in the fight framing it as a bigger war against elite institutions decried by Trump s loyal supporters The next chapter of the American story will not be written by The Harvard Crimson Trump announced Thursday night in Tuscaloosa Alabama where he delivered the commencement address at the University of Alabama It will be written by you the Crimson Tide The Harvard Crimson is that school s novice newspaper The Crimson Tide refers to the Alabama school s football activity In addition to threatening Harvard s tax-exempt status and halting federal grants the Trump administration wants to block Harvard from being able to enroll international students