A senior White House official said President Donald Trump’s administration has no “forthcoming” actions against GW despite their federal crackdown on universities nationwide, The Washington Post reported Sunday morning.
The Post reported a senior White House official — who spoke to the paper on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans — said the Trump administration has no current plans to take action against the University. The comment comes after the Department of Justice announced in February that a federal task force to combat antisemitism will visit GW and nine other universities to investigate alleged incidents of antisemitism since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
“The White House does not have forthcoming actions against GW,” the senior White House official told The Washington Post. “But any college or university that is in violation of the law will be held accountable by the Trump administration.”
Trump, during his first three months in office, has cracked down on universities nationwide that he alleges failed to protect students against antisemitism on their campuses. He’s also targeted schools that have diversity, equity and inclusion policies in an effort to curtail practices that he said have unfairly discriminated against white Americans.
Trump officials earlier this month froze $1 billion from Cornell University’s federal funding and an additional $790 million from Northwestern University, pointing to allegations of antisemitism and racial discrimination from their promotion of diversity. His administration also froze $2.2 billion in grants and contracts to Harvard University earlier this month after the Justice Department task force visited the school.
The Justice Department announced in late February that the same federal task force would visit GW to investigate whether the University failed to protect Jewish community members from unlawful discrimination and antisemitism but didn’t specify the timeline of their visit. The University could face “remedial action” if they are found responsible for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students from incidents of antisemitism that have occurred on campus since Oct. 7, 2023, according to a DOJ press release.
The Post reported that University officials “soon responded” to the DOJ’s probe and agreed to participate in any inquiry of the Trump administration. University officials have not formally met with the Trump administration, but the White House told The Post that “could change.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Four people familiar with University planning told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions that University officials have been “meeting regularly” to discuss action plans in response to Trump’s actions.
University President Ellen Granberg said at a Faculty Senate meeting in April that she planned to attend a conference call in the coming days with other university leaders around the country to discuss a response to the Trump administration’s actions.
Granberg on Wednesday also joined more than 500 universities to condemn “government overreach” into higher education by signing onto a letter from the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The letter, while not directly naming Trump, urges colleges and universities to oppose “undue government intrusion” into their institutions.
