Trump punishes Columbia University with a 400 million dollar budget cut

The decision to punish the university with a penalty of 400 million dollars (equivalent to 369 million euros) was made in just a few days. An investigation was announced on Monday and its results were announced on Friday. The same could happen to other universities, according to the announcement.

Donald Trump's administration argues that Columbia University did not do enough to protect Jewish students during the protests that took over several universities after the Israeli retaliation for the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.

Criticism
Not everyone agrees with this decision.  Critics call the sudden cutback an unconstitutional attempt to restrict freedom of expression. They also argue that Republicans' fight against anti-Semitism is hypocritical and opportunistic, given there are anti-Semites in their own ranks.

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is one such politician. She believes that Jews caused forest fires with space lasers, to name but one example. Yet Trump supported her election campaign.

Anti-Semitism
The accusations levelled by Trump and his administration do not come out of the blue. The student protests at American universities put the neutrality of administrators to the test. It went so far that even the US House of Representatives got involved, calling administrators to account at the end of 2023. The president of Columbia stepped down in August 2024.

The university, which has an annual budget of about 6.6 billion dollars, had been bracing itself for significant budget cuts for some time. Last week, Columbia published a page on its website about its fight against anti-Semitism. The university has also attempted to defuse criticism, to no avail.

The Anti-Defamation League, a pro-Israeli organisation, summarises Columbia's performance with a score. The university offers kosher food, has Jewish student organisations, and works together with Israeli institutions, but it also has vocal pro-Palestine activists who oppose the war in Gaza.

Arrested
Trump wants to send back millions of immigrants to their countries of origin, especially if they participate in demonstrations that his administration deems illegal. Last week, a Palestinian student from Columbia University was arrested for participating in the protests.