Trump says Harvard will run new trade schools as part of grant deal: ‘Then their sins are forgiven’

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Tuesday that Harvard University has reached a tentative deal with his administration to restore $2.4 billion in frozen federal grants.

America’s oldest college will spend about $500 million to launch and operate trade schools, ending a clash over issues including discrimination against Jewish students and the use of race-based affirmative action, Trump said. 

“This would be a giant trade school, or series of trade schools. It would be run by Harvard,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.

“Now, this is something that we’re close to finalizing. We haven’t done it yet, but they’d put up $500 million. Interest and everything else will go to that account, meaning, go to the trade school. And you know, it’s a big investment in trade schools done by very smart people, and then their sins are forgiven.”

Trump casually announced the looming resolution during an unrelated event focused on childhood cancer. 

“I guess we reached a deal with Harvard today,” Trump said. “All you have to do is paper it, right Linda?” he asked Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who concurred.

Trump had insisted that McMahon extract $500 million from Harvard after squeezing a $200 million fine out of Columbia University for civil rights violations.

The administration had cut off grant money to Harvard and Columbia as a penalty for doing too little to combat antisemitism following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas against Israel and subsequent invasion of Gaza by the Jewish state.

“They’re going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other things, engines, lots of things. You know, we need people in trade schools,” Trump said of the breakthrough.

“I remember when I went to school, I saw people that weren’t particularly good students, but they could take a motor or an engine apart blindfolded and put it back blindfolded, but they weren’t too good at other things. Many of them ended up doing better than the people that were.”

The president added: “We have tremendous plants opening, and we want to have people at top level for those plants, whether it’s AI or whether it’s automobile plants. You know, many automobile companies open air plants in the United States.”

Harvard for months stood apart from other colleges by defiantly refusing to bend to administration demands. 

The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment.