President Trump announced plans early Tuesday to halt all federal funds for any educational institute that allows “illegal protests” — and to unmask and even imprison agitators.
The commander-in-chief issued the warning as disruptive anti-Israel and pro-Hamas demonstrations have rocked college campuses across the country.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump, 78, wrote in an early Truth Social post.
Trump vowed to halt federal funding for schools that allow illegal protests Tuesday. AFP via Getty Images“Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested.”
“NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.
The threat also comes a day after his administration vowed to pull more than $50 million in government contracts from Columbia University due to the Ivy League school’s alleged inaction on clamping down on anti-Israel protests.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside Barnard College on Thursday, February 27, 2025, in New York. James KeivomFederal officials also said they were reviewing more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments tied to the Big Apple university to ensure the rights of Jewish students were being met.
The looming warning comes after Trump formed the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism when he first took back the White House in January in a bid to fight back against vile hate being carried out on college campuses.
Columbia said it was reviewing the federal government’s warning and hoped to work with the White House to fight antisemitism.
Students and staff gather inside the College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology building on the campus of the University of Cincinnati on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images“Columbia is fully committed to combatting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we are resolute that calling for, promoting, or glorifying violence or terror has no place at our University,” the school said in a statement late Monday.
It comes, too, after Trump signed an executive order in January instructing federal agencies to find ways to crackdown on pro-Hamas graffiti and intimidation, including on college campuses, as well as deport anti-Jewish activists who violate laws.
The order called for the deportation of resident aliens — including students with visas — who broke laws as part of anti-Israel protests that broke out in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.
