Trump freezes $2bn in Harvard funding after university rejects demands

The Trump administration has said it is freezing more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in federal funds for Harvard University, hours after the elite college rejected a list of demands from the White House.

The White House sent a list of demands to Harvard last week which it said were designed to fight antisemitism on campus. They included changes to hiring, admissions and teaching.

Since Donald Trump was re-elected, his government has tried to reshape elite universities by threatening to withhold federal funds, mostly spent on research.

Harvard became the first major US university to reject the administration's demands on Monday, accusing the White House of trying to "control" its community.

The sweeping changes demanded by the White House would have transformed its operations and ceded a large amount of control to the government.

Its letter to Harvard on Friday, obtained by the New York Times, said the university had failed to live up to the "intellectual and civil rights conditions" that justify federal investment.