US President Donald Trump's administration has escalated its attacks on Harvard University, suing the Ivy League school to recover billions of dollars for allegedly failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students.

Harvard has been a central focus of the president's campaign to force changes ⁠at major US universities, which Trump has derided for alleged antisemitic and "radical left" ideologies, by threatening to withhold or take back federal funding. In a complaint filed with the Boston federal court on Friday, the Department of Justice said Harvard remains "deliberately indifferent" to harassment of Jewish and Israeli students, and has intentionally refused to enforce its campus rules when victims are Jews or Israelis.

Harvard will defend against the lawsuit, which a spokesperson called "yet another pretextual and retaliatory action by the administration for refusing to turn over control of Harvard to the federal government".

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school also defended its efforts to address antisemitism on campus, which have included expanding training, improving disciplinary ⁠processes, and adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

"Harvard cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community ⁠and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, ⁠respected, and can thrive on our campus," the spokesperson said. "Harvard’s efforts demonstrate the very opposite of deliberate indifference."

Most of Friday's lawsuit recapitulates prior incidents and accusations involving Harvard, instead of offering new instances of alleged discrimination.

It came less than two months after Trump said his administration was seeking US$1 billion from Harvard to settle probes into school policies, after a published report said Trump dropped a demand for only US$200 million. The administration also ‌accused Harvard in a February 13 lawsuit of failing to produce documents for a probe into whether its admissions process was biased against white applicants.

US District Judge Richard Stearns, an appointee of former Democratic President Bill Clinton, was assigned to Friday's lawsuit.

It's unclear how much the administration is seeking. The complaint said Harvard is set to receive more than US$2.6 billion of taxpayer money from the Department of Health and Human Services alone.

The lawsuit seeks to recover all federal grants to Harvard during ‌its noncompliance, and permission to freeze payments on existing grants.

It also seeks the appointment of a US-approved independent outside monitor of Harvard's compliance.

The Trump administration and Harvard have battled in court multiple times, including litigation brought by Harvard itself. In September, District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston ruled that the White House illegally cancelled more than US$2 billion of Harvard research grants. Four months earlier, she blocked White House efforts to bar international students from attending classes at Harvard. The White House is appealing both decisions. Burroughs was appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama. (AP)



Edited by Thomas McAlinden