Trump ups pressure on Harvard, threatens to ban university from accepting foreign students

US President Donald Trump called Harvard a “joke” on Wednesday and said it should lose its government research contracts after the prestigious university refused demands that it accept outside political supervision.

Trump’s administration also threatened to ban the famed seat of learning from accepting foreign students unless it bowed to the requirements, as US media reported that officials were considering revoking the university’s tax-exempt status.

“Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”

The Republican is furious at the storied institution – which has produced 162 Nobel Prize winners – for rejecting his demand to submit to government supervision on admissions, hiring and political slant.

Other institutions, including Columbia University, have bowed to less far-ranging demands from the Trump administration, which claims that the educational elite is too left-wing.