Trump vowed to leverage federal money to fight antisemitism. He’s starting at Columbia

Columbia University has become the first target in President Donald Trump’scampaign to cut federal money to colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Federal agencies are considering orders to stop work on $51 million in contracts with the New York City school, according to a Monday announcement from the departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration. They’re also reviewing whether Columbia should be eligible to continue receiving more than $5 billion in federal grants.

Trump said on social media that federal funding will be stopped for any school or college that allows “illegal protests.”

“Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came,” posted Tuesday on social media, adding that American students will be expelled.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon, confirmed Monday by the Senate, said in the announcement that Columbia appears to have failed in its duty to protect Jewish students from discrimination, raising “very serious questions about the institution’s fitness to continue doing business with the United States government.”

Columbia said it will work with the administration to fight antisemitism.

“We are resolute that calling for, promoting, or glorifying violence or terror has no place at our university,” the school said in a statement.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to cut federal money to colleges that fail to stop antisemitism and to deport foreign students who were at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on U.S. campuses. In the first weeks of his second term, he ordered federal agencies to use “all available and appropriate legal tools” to end campus antisemitism, including the removal of foreign students and staff deemed security risks.

Columbia was one of five colleges that came under new federal antisemitism investigations after Trump’s order, and it’s one of 10 being visited by a task force in response to allegations that the colleges have failed to protect Jewish students.

Others under investigation include the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota; Northwestern University; and Portland State University.

The review of Columbia’s federal grants and contracts will evaluate whether the school is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which forbids discrimination based on race or national origin. Colleges found in violation of federal civil rights laws can face penalties up to a total loss of federal money, through that punishment has almost never been dealt.

Joseph Howley, a professor of classics at Columbia who has spoken in support of pro-Palestinian protesters, warned that universities should not change their policies in the face of the Trump administration’s threat, which he described as unsurprising.

“It’s no secret that the MAGA-Trump movement hates universities and wants to destroy them,” Howley said. “They’re coming for our funding either way.”

Under President Joe Biden, the Education Department opened more than 100 investigations into allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests. Some schools rushed to reach resolution agreements before Biden left office, provoking outcry Republicans who said the Democrat was letting school off the hook.

Columbia has been at the center of the protest movement that swept across U.S. campuses last spring. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up an encampment in April and inspired a wave of similar protests. Protesters at Columbia went on to seize a campus building, resulting in dozens of arrests when police cleared the building.

Last week, pro-Palestinian protesters pushed into a building at Columbia’s Barnard College and assaulted an employee, according to the school. They left later in the night after officials warned of “additional, necessary measures” to protect the campus, the school said.

Turmoil at Columbia contributed to last year’s resignation of President Minouche Shafik. She was among several high-profile university presidents called before Republicans on Capitol Hill in a series of hearings on campus antisemitism. Republicans accused Shafik of failing to deal sharp discipline to students and professors.

The hearings also contributed to resignations of presidents at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.

A December report coordinated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson found that colleges across the U.S. had failed to stop antisemitism, highlighting cases at Columbia, Harvard and the University of California, Los Angeles.

It called on the executive branch to aggressively enforce civil rights laws, saying colleges that fail to combat antisemitism and are “unfit stewards of taxpayer dollars should be treated accordingly.”

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Associated Press writer Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed reporting.

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