US President Donald Trump has threatened to halt all federal funding for any college or school that allows “illegal protests” and vowed to imprison “agitators”, in a social media post that has alarmed free expression advocates.
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS!”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Fire) condemned the remarks, saying they would “cast an impermissible chill on student protests about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. The group added: “The First Amendment protects controversial political speech; we don’t use the law to punish dissenters.”
Trump did not specify what constitutes an “illegal” protest, but the threat comes a day after his administration announced a review of more than $50m in government contracts with Columbia University over alleged “inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students”. The taskforce also said it would review over $5bn in grant commitments to Columbia to ensure compliance with federal regulations.
Columbia University, which was at the centre of student protests against the war in Gaza last spring, said it is “fully committed to combatting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination” and looks forward to working with the federal administration to fight antisemitism.
