Trump Administration Cancels $400 Million in Federal Funds to Columbia University

The Trump administration announced on Friday that it had canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University, an extraordinary step that it said was necessary because of what it described as the school’s failure to protect Jewish students from harassment.

Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, said in a universitywide email on Friday night that the school is taking the administration’s actions seriously. Columbia is “committed to working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns,” she wrote.

The announcement escalated the administration’s targeting of Columbia, where protests last year over the war in Gaza set off a nationwide debate over free speech, campus policing and antisemitism, and led to similar demonstrations at schools nationwide.

The move also represents the latest in a series of attacks by Trump-aligned Republicans aimed at elite higher educational institutions, following last year’s congressional hearings that resulted in the departure of the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. It comes after recent executive orders barring diversity, equity and inclusion programs at all educational institutions that receive federal funds.

A warning issued Monday by Linda McMahon, the newly confirmed secretary of education, made clear that the administration had its sights set on Columbia. Ms. McMahon warned that Columbia would face the loss of federal funding, the lifeblood of major research universities, if it did not take additional action to combat antisemitism on campus.

Dr. Armstrong, the interim president, said Columbia was going through a “time of great risk to our university” and that the cutoff of government funds would be felt in “nearly every corner” of the school.