F FOR EFFORT

Harvard is vowing to resist Trump’s bare-knuckled assault on higher education. Will others rally behind it?

• Harvard University has emerged as the bulwark against MAGA’s attempted shakedown of academia. The looming battle pits America’s oldest, richest university against the White House, in what could prove a turning point in President Donald Trump’s war on higher ed — whichever way it goes. The Trump administration is demanding that Harvard take steps to counter what it calls antisemitism on campus. Harvard’s president calls those demands a pretext for a power grab aimed at stifling dissent.

• Trump’s proposition: Harvard must screen international students for their ideologies and eliminate its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, or lose $9 billion in federal funds. Harvard rejected the deal, so Trump froze $2.2 billion in research funding. Hours later, Trump threatened Harvard’s tax-exempt status, which would make the school’s massive endowment subject to federal income tax.

• “Using research dollars as leverage is crazy dangerous because without that research, Americans will suffer,” a former top Education official told What A Day. One example: A top Harvard scientist who has spent years studying tuberculosis was ordered to stop working due to the funding freeze. “I really hope that more schools follow Harvard’s lead,” the official added.

The stakes are high. If Harvard can beat the White House, or at least hold the line, other schools will take courage, and Trump will look weak. If Harvard caves, like Columbia already did, Trump will be emboldened — and surely keep pushing.

• That would likely mean revoking more visas, clawing back as much grant money as possible, and threatening financial aid programs, the former official warned. Trump’s authoritarian crackdown on dissent is only gathering pace: Another Palestinian student from Columbia was detained by ICE during a citizenship interview yesterday.

• What could stop Trump in his tracks? At this early date in his presidency, he seems to be testing out different pressure tactics — just as he is with the media and big law firms. “The greatest lie about Donald Trump is that he doesn’t respond to incentives. He does,” Crooked’s Jon Lovett said on Pod Save America today. “When Columbia [capitulated], they go after Harvard … The stakes for the country, of them deciding whether or not to capitulate, are so enormous.”

The bottom line: While the Trump administration is working overtime to undermine democratic norms, they can’t always win — especially when courageous institutions stand strong.

TRUMP SLUMP

Donald Trump’s repeated broadsides against migrants, international students, green card holders, the rule of law and global trade are costing the U.S. — in cold, hard cash. And for even more reasons than you might have realized: It’s now prompting foreign tourists to stay the heck away from his nonsense.

You might not think of the United States as the world’s No. 1 tourism hotspot. But America’s $2.3 tourism industry ranks as the world’s largest. Now, thanks to Trump, it’s taking a big hit. The percentage of international travelers to the U.S. dropped 11.6 percent in March, compared to the same period last year. Air travel from Mexico alone dropped 23 percent. Car travel from Canada plunged 32 percent.

International conferences in the U.S. are being cancelled left and right because tariffs have driven up price estimates — and travelers are afraid to visit “for fear of being thrown in prison at the airport,” said Jennifer, a What A Day reader who works in the industry, in an email to us.

“This is decimating the meetings and events industry,” she wrote. “It will take years of goodwill to undo the damage that’s been done in a few weeks, and that’s assuming the Trump administration immediately reverses their ‘policies’ of random cruelty to foreigners who are here for just a few weeks for a gig or a meeting.”

Thanks to the U.S. turning away from the rest of the world with tariffs and other policies, “the rest of the world is turning away from the U.S.,” Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal told Pod Save America.

Can we hold some conferences as far away from here as possible? Apparently Perth, Australia is the furthest city in the world from Washington, D.C. Sounds like a good place to me.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

An Israeli airstrike hit a hospital entrance in Gaza today, killing a medic and wounding nine others, according to a hospital official. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that he’s opposed to Palestinian statehood in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron. France plans to recognize Palestinian statehood later this year, joining 147 of the 193 United Nations members.

The Trump administration is relying on unverified tabloid accounts for their case against Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia grad student who was detained by ICE for leading pro-Palestinian protests on campus, according to a review of the evidence by NBC News. The State Department also isn’t alleging that he committed any crimes. So far, his detention looks like total BS.

DOGE is using personal data that’s normally protected to track down immigrants, with the goal of removing them from their housing or jobs, the Washington Post reports. How would DOGE go about that? Trump’s team is reportedly crafting a rule that would ban mixed-status households (in which some people have legal status and others don’t) from accessing public housing. Intentionally destroying jobs and increasing homelessness? What could go wrong?

The Trump administration is considering asking Congress to cut the State Department’s budget by almost half, Politico reports. The proposal would slash the budget from $54.4 billion to $28.4 billion. That would eliminate or stymie programs that promote educational and cultural exchanges, battle drug trafficking, and tackle health challenges globally, among others. Nothing to worry about. I’m sure DOGE thought this through meticulously!

Donald Trump plans to skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner later this month, surprising absolutely no one. Personally, I’m still mad that the White House Correspondents’ Association canceled the comedic act for the dinner. There’s so much good content this year. I mean, Signalgate?! JD Vance dropping that trophy?! Come on, you gotta laugh through these horrors. I say: Don’t let them take the jokes, too.

Californians are enthusiastic about Vice President Kamala Harris possibly running for governor, according to a new Politico poll. About 40 percent of voters responded that they were “mostly excited” about the possibility. Another 33 percent feel “joyful.” Naturally, there are some haters: 21 percent of voters said they feel “hopeless” about Harris running.

On a related (and disturbing) note, tech bro Vivek Ramaswamy is leading in the Ohio gubernatorial race by a lot, according to a poll conducted by a longtime Trump pollster. It shows that he would garner 71 percent of the primary vote right now — 60 points higher than his closest competition. God help us

A Supreme Court case could shape the future of bodily autonomy for all.

President Trump has signed far-reaching executive orders that target transgender people, their rights, and their health care. The ACLU and their partners are in court fighting back.

Meanwhile, the ACLU is also at the Supreme Court fighting to protect the future of transgender people’s freedom – and bodily autonomy for all.  

U.S. v. Skrmetti centers on a Tennessee law banning medical providers from supporting families with transgender youth. Tennessee has asked the Supreme Court to expand the ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade.

This would not only violate the constitutional right to equal protection under law – it hurts everyone’s freedom to control their bodies and lives.

Learn how the fights for trans healthcare and abortion are connected.