The sweeping set of demands President Donald Trump’s administration insisted Harvard University comply with last Friday was sent to the elite institution by mistake and should never have hit their inbox, according to the New York Times.
But by the time Harvard received “a frantic call from a Trump official,” the following Monday, it was too late. The university had already defied the president’s demands for control, “setting off a tectonic battle between one of the country’s most prestigious universities and a U.S. president,” the Times reported.
“The April 11 letter from the White House’s task force on antisemitism, this official told Harvard, should not have been sent and was ‘unauthorized,’ two people familiar with the matter said,” according to the Friday report.
While it remained unclear what triggered the letter to be sent last week, sources told the Times that its content was authentic, but there were differing accounts of how the email flub occurred.
“Some people at the White House believed it had been sent prematurely, according to the three people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions,” the Times reported. “Others in the administration thought it had been meant to be circulated among the task force members rather than sent to Harvard.”
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Either way, the timing couldn’t have been more consequential, the report added.
“The letter arrived when Harvard officials believed they could still avert a confrontation with President Trump,” the Times said. “Over the previous two weeks, Harvard and the task force had engaged in a dialogue. But the letter’s demands were so extreme that Harvard concluded that a deal would ultimately be impossible.”
As Harvard made clear it would not comply with his demands for oversight over admissions, hiring practices and other aspects of university life, the Trump administration announced it would freeze $2.2 billion in grants as he upped his rhetorical attacks on the private educational institution.
In a statement Friday, Harvard remained critical of the administration.
“It remains unclear to us exactly what, among the government’s recent words and deeds, were mistakes or what the government actually meant to do and say,” Harvard said in a statement obtained by the Times. “But even if the letter was a mistake, the actions the government took this week have real-life consequences” on students and employees and “the standing of American higher education in the world.”
