Trump's Harvard Attacks Are Not 'Isolated,' Summers Says

Harvard University’s decision to stand up to President Donald Trump sparked cheers from politicians across Massachusetts, but the resulting federal funding cuts risk imperiling the region’s primary economic engine.

Harvard on Monday refused to strike a deal with the Trump administration after threats to cut off as much as $9 billion in financial support, saying its demands went beyond the stated mission of combating antisemitism and threatened the school’s independence.

The retribution came quickly: hours later, a government task force announced that it plans to freeze $2.2 billion of multiyear grants for Harvard, a move Trump again endorsed on Wednesday morning in a social media post saying the school had “lost its way.” But the outpouring of support from the region’s Democratic leaders, many of whom went to Harvard themselves, was equally as swift.

Governor Maura Healey, who captained the basketball team at Harvard, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, who taught at the law school, were among those celebrating the university’s decision to fight back. Congressman Seth Moulton, also an alumnus, raised Boston’s role as a bastion of free speech and religion that was essential to the founding of the country.

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