President Donald Trump’s animus against Harvard has nothing to do with Barron Trump or his college search, Melania Trump revealed on Tuesday.
The first lady dismissed rumors online that Barron sought to attend Harvard while the two worked to complete his college applications. Barron, the only son of Melania and Donald, just finished his freshman year at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Through a spokesperson, Melania confirmed it is “completely false” that her husband is warring with the flagship Ivy League school because her son was supposedly rejected.
“Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false,” spokesman Nicholas Clemens told the Palm Beach Post.
Stakes were raised between Harvard and the Trump administration this week after the president directed federal agencies to cancel all remaining grants intended for the school, an estimated $3.2 billion in financing for various research projects and initiatives. Harvard, which has an endowment surpassing $50 billion, sued, alleging unfair retaliation.
A sticking point between both sides is the school’s admission of foreign students. Trump ordered the freezing of student visas for Harvard, characterizing the process as unfair to American students.
The revocation came after Harvard reportedly rebuffed a request to turn over records related to its current crop of international students.
On Tuesday, President Trump accused Harvard of being “very antisemitic” toward Jewish students and said he was considering redirecting all federal collegiate funding to trade schools “all across our land.”
“What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” he wrote.
He complained that Harvard is being very “slow” about turning over records of international students, and the administration has been accused of fomenting antisemitic unrest on campus.
“We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” Trump wrote.
“Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!” he wrote. “The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) – But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!”
Despite attending school in New York, an epicenter of the anti-Israel protests rocking university campuses across the U.S., Barron has not sought to inject himself into the debate. Other students on campus have described him as a polite and studious classmate who keeps his head down and is rarely seen out on campus.
But that doesn’t mean he stayed out of the family business. Earlier this year, Melania praised her son for encouraging his dad to take advantage of the conservative podcasting space, a decision which political strategists on both sides of the aisle credit for helping him win a second term in the White House.
