Trump threatens to remove tax benefits from Harvard

The US President threatened Tuesday to remove important tax benefits from Harvard. The threat arises a day after the prestigious US university refused to meet the requirements made by the White House.

« Perhaps Harvard should lose his tax exemption status and be taxed as a political entity, if he continues to defend the political, ideological, inspiration/support for terrorism, » Donald Trump wrote on his social network social network.

« Remember, the tax exemption status is totally conditioned to acting in the public interest! » Said US President Trump.

The new criticism of the academic institution occurs a day after US administration has decided to withdraw $ 2.2 billion (1.94 billion euros) from Pluriannual federal subsidies to Harvard.

Private university with headquarters near Boston, which has a heritage of more than $ 50 billion (44.1 billion euros), benefits from an exemption from federal and state taxes, in this case of the state of Massachusetts.

Like other US universities, Harvard was the scene of student protests against the Israeli War in the Gaza Strip, and has been the target of criticism from the White House since Donald Trump returned to power last January.

The head of state has accused Harvard and the other institutions of allowing anti -Semitism to develop campusthe republican administration requested to put into practice a series of measures – including an « audit » to the opinions of students and teaching staff – under penalty of the federal government to wage subsidies.

Unlike Columbia University in New York, Harvard refused to fulfill.

In a letter to students and teachers, the rector of the university, Alan Garber, assured them on Monday that Harvard would not resign « to their independence, nor to their constitutionally guaranteed rights. »