Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With Harvard

[Nevilledog]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/business/trump-harvard-letter-mistake.html

No paywall link
https://archive.li/bUrw6


Harvard University received an emailed letter from the Trump administration last Friday that included a series of demands about hiring, admissions and curriculum so onerous that school officials decided they had no choice but to take on the White House.

The university announced its intentions on Monday, setting off a tectonic battle between one of the country’s most prestigious universities and a U.S. president. Then, almost immediately, came a frantic call from a Trump official.

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.

The letter was sent by the acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, Sean Keveney, according to three other people, who were briefed on the matter. Mr. Keveney is a member of the antisemitism task force.

It is unclear what prompted the letter to be sent last Friday. Its content was authentic, the three people said, but there were differing accounts inside the administration of how it had been mishandled. 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. Others in the administration thought it had been meant to be circulated among the task force members rather than sent to Harvard.

*snip*

[cachukis]

1. Sure.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Oh Goody! Does that mean that Harvard gets to keep its tax exemption?

[Swede]

3. The Clusterfuck administration at it's finest.

nt

[Volaris]

32. This is pure backpedaling. No way they fucked this up

so now they have to play keystone cops. This was even the dumbest of them figured out Harvard is one of the places the lawyers all come from, and so maybe don't fuck with them.

[Irish_Dem]

33. I agree. They were taken aback when Harvard told them to pound sand.

So now they have to lie and cover their tracks.

I guess they decided that looking like a bunch of clowns was better than
WWIII with Harvard.

[Arazi]

34. They're still going after Harvard. The administration is not backing down

[Irish_Dem]

35. Yes but they are also trying to cover their tracks a bit.

They are trying to soften things a bit.
Why backtrack on the email?
They didn't have to do that.

It makes them look weak and chaotic.

[Mad_Machine76]

4. It's not my it's not my problem

Seem to one of the overarching features of this (mal)-administration I don’t know how we’re going to make it 4 years of this.

[Ocelot II]

5. The Dunning-Kruger Administration strikes again.

[brush]

27. Yep, mistake after mistake after mistake.

Incompetence reigns.

God! Where'd they find all these people? The law of averages should dictate they'd find some good hires in the bunch.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Their cover story about Keveney is bullshit, proven by the fact that they ESCALATED after.

As is famously quoted: When they show you their true selves the first time, believe them.

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. After Harvard publicly repudiated the demands, the Trump administration raised the pressure, freezing billions in federal funding to the school and warning that its tax-exempt status was in jeopardy.

[Chi67]

20. Yep

They know they can't win this one, so they're looking for an out.

[Scrivener7]

7. Seems like when they're fought they back down every time.

[ananda]

17. That's been my experience with bullies.

You really have to fight them, hard.

[FSogol]

29. Exactly. Too bad so many give in.

[Ms. Toad]

8. Oopsie!

Seems to be a theme in this administration.

[Hekate]

9. Really, a mistake? You mean they fought back like a cougar? And you need to rethink this?

[TomSlick]

11. Exactly.

Someone came to the startling realization that Harvard was a poor choice as a target.

[dweller]

10. Sean Keveney, Welcome to your time

underneath the bus !!

It was a mistake !

Like the ‘mistake of sending an innocent man to El Salvador!’ !!!

Like the mistake of inviting a journalist to the Signalgate convo !!

Mistake ! Mistake ! Mistake !! Welcome to the club , you are now in the in, soon to be out club …

🫤




✌🏻

[newdeal2]

12. It's very clear that the Trump sequel is pretty much like the first term

Screw up after screw up.

[jls4561]

13. Oh yeah, it's the old "the covfefe boy did it excuse.

[PJMcK]

14. Why did Columbia University and Paul, Weiss cave in?

Cowards.

Bravo, Harvard.

[maxrandb]

15. He wanted to make Harvard "bend the knee" in private

It's his fucking, stupid, tired-ass bullshit he always tries to pull.

He wants to "privately" say; "nice university yah got there, be a shame if something happened to it".

Then, if his strong-arm corruption goes public, he says: "I know nothing about that".

It's a fucking organized crime family, but it's the stupidest organized crime family in history.

[BlueSpot]

16. And the bully again runs away from the fight

Will anyone else learn from this?

China's figured it out. I'd like to see some more of that from home.

[CitizenZero]

19. This Whole Administration Is A Mistake

The incompetency and duplicity is astounding. Will they make a mistake and end up in a war? Will they make a mistake with a nuclear weapon? I would not trust this administration to run a lemonade stand.

[iemanja]

21. Was it also a mistake when Trump told the IRS

to strip Harvard of its tax exempt status?

These people are full of shit.

[Buns_of_Fire]

22. Next up: Rump Administration Blames WWIII On "Administrative Error".

"Oops," a sheepinh, grinning Rump said, at a press conference held in what used to be the White House. "I told our glorious Secretary of Defense, Whiskey Pete, to DEPLOY forces in defense of the European Union, not DESTROY forces in defense of the European Union."

"Anyway, it's his fault. I'll playing golf this weekend, so don't bother me with this anymore," he added.

[JawJaw]

31. OANN reporter:

"Mr President, Sir..Sir...Is it true that people have been calling you on the Presidential walkie-talkie all day to compliment you on the brand new "Golden Oval Tent" that's replaced what's left of the horrible old Oval Office?"

[Prairie Gates]

23. If you punch a bully in the face, they start acting differently

Everyone, take a lesson (especially you, Columbia University).

What a clown show.

[sinkingfeeling]

24. So, does constant 'administrative mistakes' equal so much winning?

[nilram]

25. I wish the press would repeat when I blame everyone else rather than admit a mistake.

It would make life with my [boss, partner, DMV, IRS, mom] so much easier.

[dchill]

26. Not!

[zorbasd]

28. Such BS, these fascists must be challenged

and stopped at every corner...

[JawJaw]

30. At this rate...

It might be prudent for the Trump regime to appoint a dedicated task force to react/pre-empt solely to other Trump task forces' fuck-ups and minimize the bandwidth they have to waste in public trying to worm their way out of entirely avoidable battles.

[struggle4progress]

36. And who amongst us doesn't accidentally send such a letter by accident every few months?

Or accidentally compromise nuclear security now and then by accident? Or accidentally kidnap someone by accident and imprison them in our new state-of-the-art torture dungeon and take selfies?

Surely it is time to let bygones be bygones

[Ping Tung]

37. Sure. Just like Donnie "mishandled" E. Jean Carroll rathrer than raped her.