To close a deal, both sides have to want something enough to offer a concession or two. What happens, though, when both sides want a fight more than concessions?
That's the problem that both Donald Trump and Harvard face at the moment. Trump wants the fight with Harvard to curry favor with his base, and Harvard wants the exact same thing. And so, the billion-dollar lawsuit over Harvard's anti-Semitism and federal-law violations is back on the table, the Wall Street Journal reports:
President Trump said he is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, the latest escalation in his administration’s fight with the institution over alleged antisemitism.
Trump posted on social media after the New York Times reported that his administration had dropped its demand for a $200 million payment to the government to settle the dispute.
“Strongly Antisemitic Harvard University has been feeding a lot of ‘nonsense’ to The Failing New York Times,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform overnight. “This case will continue until justice is served,” he added. “We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University.”
Presumably, this also means that federal funding will not restart in the near future, putting pressure on Harvard's research operations. The NY Times reported that the $200 million and agreements to abide by the Trump administration's interpretations of Titles VI and IX would settle the case, but had to change their report when Trump posted his repudiation on Truth Social:
Trump administration officials have indicated in recent days that the president no longer expects such a payment, according to the Harvard and Trump officials briefed on the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
But shortly before midnight, six hours after The Times reported that Mr. Trump had backtracked, he claimed the story was wrong and attacked The Times and Harvard. He said he was now seeking $1 billion “in damages” from Harvard and that the administration’s investigations of Harvard should now be criminal.
The NYT astutely observes that neither side has many incentives to settle. Both sides are committed to maximalism, and their supporters will see any compromise as a betrayal. The Times laughably suggests that a deal with Harvard would give Trump a victory that could distract from the shootings in Minneapolis over immigration enforcement, which is sheer nonsense, but they do better when describing the precarious position Harvard faces:
A deal with Harvard would hand the president a victory at a difficult time in his presidency.
But those same factors could also torpedo a deal, as some Harvard leaders now consider the risk of backlash even higher if they are seen as having any hand in easing the pressure on Mr. Trump, according to one person familiar with their thinking.
Some connected to the university, however, think Harvard has no option but to eventually cut a deal. The administration has repeatedly attempted to cut off research grants, which would be an untenable crisis. Like many major research universities, Harvard relies on federal funding for its financial model.
The problem Harvard faces is both financial and political. Trump and the Department of Education are fighting in court to halt payments, and they will likely win in the end. Harvard is not entitled to suck at the public teat, especially while flouting Title VI, which requires recipients of federal education funds to protect religious and ethnic minorities and provide equal access to education. Havard claims they are reforming, but the Free Beacon reports on a new situation that makes Harvard look like the same ol' anti-Semitic campus it's been for years:
A Harvard lecturer who writes a column for Zeteo, the anti-Israel blog of former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, is slated to speak at a conference in Qatar next month with a top Hamas official and Iran’s foreign minister, who has denied the regime’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Diana Buttu, who teaches courses on negotiation skills and female leadership at Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education, is slated to appear at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha on Feb. 9 on a panel about "leveraging influence to achieve tangible change across issues intersecting with Palestine," according to an itinerary.
The forum convenes executives from Al Jazeera, the Qatar-funded news outlet, foreign journalists, think tank scholars, and government leaders from Turkey, Somalia, and Qatar. Its marquee speakers are Khaled Meshaal, the Doha-based leader of Hamas's operations outside of Gaza, and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
Haaaahvaaaahd lecturers hanging out with Islamist terrorists and murderous regimes? Just another day in the Cambridge neighborhood, it seems.
Frankly, I'd rather that the Trump administration use my strategy of decolonizing Academia altogether, rather than just target Harvard. But if not, Harvard seems determined to make itself a target, so ... sue away.
The latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up! Today's show features:
- What happened to the expected strike this weekend? Andrew Malcolm and I discuss the dog that didn't bark, or rather the dog that didn't bite, and why Trump may have waited.
- Will Iran negotiate in good faith? Will our regional allies give us a green light if they don't? We also take a look at the trade deal with India, and whether that might bring Putin's war machine to a halt.
- Finally, we take a look at the latest propagandizing at the New York Times and CNN.
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