Was Barron Trump Rejected By Harvard? What US First Lady Melania Trump Said

Amid US President Donald Trump's crackdown on Harvard University, the internet is abuzz with theories that the American leader is warring with the elite institution as his youngest son, Barron Trump, was supposedly not accepted to the Ivy League school. Now, putting the rumours to rest, First Lady Melania Trump has rejected the  "completely false" speculations about her husband and son, saying Barron Trump never applied to Harvard.

"Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false," said Melania Trump's communications director, Nicholas Clemens, in a statement.

Trump's Crackdown on Ivy League Schools

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump and his administration waged a war against Ivy League schools, including Harvard and Columbia, accusing them of allowing antisemitism on campuses in the name of pro-Palestinian student protests. As part of its crackdown, the White House has cut billions of dollars in federal funding to scientific research, conditioning the release of grants on changes to campus policies. 

But in front of Trump's line of fire is Harvard-- America's oldest and wealthiest university, which has pushed back on the administration's demands for changes to several of its policies. On Tuesday, the Trump administration asked federal agencies to cancel contracts with Harvard University worth about $100 million. The government has already cancelled over $2.6 billion in federal research grants for the Ivy League school. 

President Trump has railed against Harvard, calling it a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism. 

The school filed a lawsuit on April 21 over the administration's calls for changes to the university's leadership, governance and admissions policies. Since then, the administration has slashed the school's federal funding, moved to cut off enrollment of international students and threatened its tax-exempt status.

Last Friday, Judge Allison Burroughs, a President Barack Obama appointee, granted a temporary restraining order to Harvard, preventing the Trump Administration from revoking the Ivy League school's certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which permits the university to host international students with F-1 or J-1 visas to study in the US.

Now, the government has now threatened to cut all remaining financial contracts with Harvard. The administration "will send a letter to federal agencies today asking them to identify any contracts with Harvard, and whether they can be cancelled or redirected elsewhere," news agency AFP reported, quoting an official.