Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said late Monday that his administration is pursuing $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, rejecting a report by the New York Times that said the White House had dropped its demand for a $200 million payment to settle its dispute with the educational institution.
In a Truth Social post Trump accused Harvard of "feeding a lot of nonsense" to the newspaper and called the university "Strongly Antisemitic."
"We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages,
and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University," he wrote, without specifying what harms the school had caused. He later said the New York Times report was "completely wrong" and demanded a correction.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
According to the newspaper, the White House's concession came amid sagging approval ratings for Trump, as he faces outrage over immigration enforcement tactics and the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minnesota.
The Trump administration has pursued a broader effort to use federal funding to push changes at Harvard and other universities, arguing they are affected by antisemitism and "radical left" ideology.
It has canceled hundreds of grants for Harvard researchers, saying the university failed to do enough to address harassment of Jewish students, moves that prompted Harvard to sue the U.S. government.
Several other Ivy League schools, including Columbia University and Brown University, have reached agreements with the administration and accepted certain government demands.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Stephen Coates)
