Trump cancels $400m grants to Columbia University over anti-Israeli killings in Gaza
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has canceled grants and contracts totaling $400 million to Columbia University in New York City.
The university has been consistent in its opposition to the killing of Palestinian women and children in Gaza, and had demanded an end to U.S support for Israel. Students have carried out several protests against Israel and the US government support for the war in Gaza.
The Trump administration however viewed this as antisemitism and went ahead to sanction the university.
The General Services Administration on Friday accused the university of “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students”, a claim denied several times by the University authority.
The U.S. government said the cancelled funds would come out of $5 billion in grants committed to Columbia.
The GSA said in a joint statement with the Department of Justice, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services that the administration’s support for Israel was total and will not work with any school “that does not protect Jewish students and staff.”
Established in 1754 as King’s College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan, it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York and the fifth-oldest in the United States.
