Harvard at Risk of Losing Federal Funding Due to Trump Threats
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The News Memo is a more human way to engage with the news. Our goal is that you engage with life, and we will keep you posted on interesting things happening in the news every Friday morning. We try our best not to be biased and keep things factual. We also really want you to walk away from each memo feeling smarter. Enjoy!
Newsbites
Chart of the week: The four largest meatpackers (Cargill, Tyson, JBS, and National Beef) purchase over 80% of all cattle raised by U.S. farmers. For perspective, in 1980, the percentage was less than 40%.
Robots: The first-ever kick-boxing match between robots took place in China this week (video). Human controllers stood inside the ring and gave voice commands to the robots. China is increasingly showcasing the capabilities of its robotic companies. In April, robots also participated alongside humans in a half-marathon race in China.
Russia conducted a series of massive drone and missile strikes into Ukraine this week, some of the largest and most lethal aerial attacks since the war began more than 3 years ago. More than 12 people died. President Trump said that by ramping up the offensive, Putin was “playing with fire.” Trump’s criticism of Putin has increased in recent weeks as a temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has not come to fruition. Russia continues to occupy about 20% of Ukraine’s pre-war territory.
Tariffs Turmoil: The U.S. Court of International Trade blocked the majority of the Trump Administration’s tariffs on Wednesday, ruling that the president overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. However, an appeals court quickly put a hold on the lower court order, allowing the tariffs to remain in place while the case is appealed. Since the “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2, the U.S. has only reached one new trade deal with another country (UK).
More: The U.S. government has collected more than $90B in tariff-related taxes in the first five months of 2025, a record rate in recent history. For context, the government collects about $5T annually in total taxes, the majority of which come from personal income taxes. President Trump has said the increased tariff revenue will allow lawmakers to cut income taxes
A moment caught on camera shows French President Emmanuel Macron being shoved by his wife, Brigitte Macron, inside the presidential airplane before walking down the stairs. The president, who looks over at the camera, awkwardly smiles before moving out of sight. (video) The scene went viral across the world. Macron responded, saying, “I was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife…It’s nothing.” The nature of their relationship has been under speculation in recent years. The two got married in 2007. They met in 1993 when Brigitte, then a 39-year-old high school teacher, taught Emmanuel, her 15-year-old student.
More: Conservative activist Candace Owens published a viral series of long-form videos titled “Becoming Brigitte,” claiming that Brigitte Macron is a man who has been abusively managing the relationship since Emmanuel was young.
Elon Musk will celebrate his final day at DOGE today. President Trump will host a press conference at 1:30 p.m. ET with Elon. Musk, who dominated headlines for months while he was in D.C., will return to primarily focus on his multiple companies. Vice President JD Vance said he will still be an important advisor to the White House.
Harvard at Risk of Losing Federal Funding Due to Trump Threats
What’s going on?
The Trump Administration is taking significant steps to punish Harvard University, the country’s oldest university (1636), whose culture has come under scrutiny in recent years. In just a few months, the government has frozen federal funds and attempted to ban foreign student enrollment (about 20% of the student body).
Harvard, which has a $50 billion endowment and a substantial donor base, has fought back by filing lawsuits and signaling that it will not comply with the Administration's demands. The tension continues to rise.
Some helpful context
Harvard receives roughly $539 million in federal funding annually, more than it collects from tuition and room and board combined. The money is intended to be used for research that the government deems top priority. Some examples include medical innovation, public policy studies, and science research.
The partnership between Harvard and the federal government dates back to WWII, when the university began researching “explosives, radio electronics, and military medicine.” Today, Harvard continues to rely on federal funding as its main source for research.
The university came under the spotlight amid the student-led demonstrations in support of Palestine in the summer of 2024. Tents and camps were set up on campus, disrupting normal operations amid demands for a complete divestment of finances from Israel (video). The Trump Administration blamed the university and its leaders for engaging in anti-semitic policies and practices and not adequately protecting Jewish students.
The Trump Administration has demanded that particular changes be implemented, including a stoppage of all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and a crackdown on anti-semitic bias across campus.
Helpful documents:
The official letter sent to Harvard from the Trump Administration demanding changes.
Harvard’s response to the threats and demanded changes.
Here are some of the major moves that have taken place
Revoking Harvard’s foreign students
Last week, the Trump Administration revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students. Kristi Noem, head of the Department of Homeland Security, wrote, "While perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas rhetoric, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege."
According to the order, Harvard may no longer accept foreign students for the 2025-26 academic year, and current foreign students must transfer schools or lose their legal status in the U.S. before the next academic year begins. Harvard currently has over 6,700 foreign students, more than a quarter of their student body. Foreign students typically pay closer to full tuition and are thus an important source of revenue for colleges.
Harvard immediately filed a lawsuit against the action and a federal judge has blocked the policy for the time being.
"Harvard has to show us their lists," President Trump said. "I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country. We don't want to see shopping centers exploding. We don't want to see the kind of riots that you had."
Federal Funding Cuts
In April, the Trump Administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding earmarked for Harvard. In May, over $450 million in grants were cut. This week, the Administration directed the Government Services Administration to review every current contract with Harvard to be "cancelled or redirected elsewhere." There are an estimated 30 contracts in place, totalling around $10 million.
As shown in the post below, President Trump is considering redirecting large sums of funding to trade schools across the country.
Harvard responds
The university’s website highlights its “cutting-edge medical, scientific, and technological research,” and affirms the historic support from federal funding. They also warned that without federal funding, special research on cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases, and obesity would “stop abruptly.”
The university has a significant amount of power to fight back legally in comparison to other colleges. The legal battles are expected to continue.
America’s Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic Under the Spotlight
Background
Among developed countries, the U.S. ranks at the bottom in terms of life expectancy despite spending more than double per capita on health care than other countries. Many of the health conditions contributing to lower life expectancy have become increasingly prevalent in children.
Initial report released
Reversing the childhood chronic disease epidemic is the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s directive, per President Trump’s executive order. The commission recently released its initial assessment report of the situation. The stated goal of the report, which contains 522 citations, is to try to establish a common understanding of the magnitude and root causes of the health crisis among children.
“Before we act, we must fully understand the scope of the crisis, the conditions that created it, and the mechanisms through which it continues to grow. Without this foundation, interventions risk being reactive, fragmented, or ineffective.”
Here is what’s in the report
The paper is divided into five sections. The first section is an overview of the magnitude of the situation and the final four sections explore the possible drivers: ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, lack of physical activity, and overmedication.
An Overview of the Health Crisis Facing American Children
Over 40% of children (ages 0-17) have one or more chronic health conditions, such as obesity, asthma, allergies, auto-immune diseases, or behavioral disorders.
Over 75% of youth (ages 17-24) are ineligible for military service mostly due to obesity, poor physical fitness, and/or mental health challenges.
1 in 5 children over 6 years old is obese. For perspective, in 1970, less than 1 in 20 children in the same age range were obese.
More than 10% of children have been diagnosed with ADHD, with roughly 1M more children diagnosed in 2022 compared to 2016.
Diagnosed anxiety grew by 61% among adolescents between 2016 and 2023.
Over 1 in 4 American children has allergies, including seasonal allergies, eczema, and food allergies.
The Shift to Ultra-Processed Foods
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are broadly speaking “packaged and ready-to-consume products that are formulated for shelf life and/or palatability but are typically high in added sugars, refined grains, unhealthy fats, and sodium and low in fiber and essential nutrients.” The growth in UPFs started in the middle of the 20th century.
After WWII, the agricultural capacity of Europe and parts of Asia was severely damaged. In response, the U.S. significantly increased its food production through industrial-scale farming, synthetic fertilizers, and packaged foods.
Today, nearly 70% of the average child’s calories come from UPFs, a significant increase since the 1960s.
Over 50% of calories consumed by Americans are derived from UPFs, compared with 10-31% for countries such as Portugal, Italy, and France.
UPFs are believed to be detrimental to health for three main reasons: nutrient depletion (replacing whole foods that contain more vitamins, minerals, etc.), increased caloric intake (UPFs encourage more consumption), and inclusion of additives (such as artificial sweeteners).
The report claims, “The greatest step the United States can take to reverse childhood chronic disease is to put whole foods produced by American farmers and ranchers at the center of healthcare.”
The Cumulative Load of Chemicals in Our Environment
The report calls for additional research to understand how the cumulative effect of exposure to chemicals in the environment may affect childhood health. Cited elements include microplastics, pesticides, fluoride, PFAS (non-stick pans) and more. Children are more sensitive to chemical exposure given the rapid development occurring in the brain, immune system, and more.
The Crisis of Childhood Behavior in the Digital Age
Physical activity has declined among children while mental health and psychosocial disorders have increased.
“More than 70% of children aged 6-17 (rising to 85% in teens) did not meet the 2024 federal minimum recommendation of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.”
“In 1969, 48% of K-8 students usually walked or bicycled to school, declining to 12.7% in 2009.”
Two other elements that are in decline but that research shows are helpful for childhood development are family dinners and spending time outdoors in nature.
The Overmedicalization of Kids
Children in the U.S. are prescribed medications at higher rates than in other countries, including 2.5 times more than British children and 19 times more than youth in Japan. The trend of prescribing adolescents drugs is a relatively recent phenomenon.
“Antidepressant prescriptions were written for greater than 2 million adolescents in 2022, a 1400% increase from 1987-2014.”
“Stimulant prescriptions, drugs used to treat ADHD in the US, doubled from 2006-2016.”
Weight-loss drugs (GLP-1s) are increasingly being prescribed for adolescents.
Corporate Influence
A common theme throughout the report is what the authors call “corporate capture,” which refers to the influence that private industry (primarily pharmaceutical, agricultural, and chemical companies) exerts on scientific research, medical papers, and legislation. For example, “In the United States, private industry funds five times as many clinical trials than all U.S. Federal agencies combined including the NIH.”
What comes next?
By August 15, the commission will publish a second report with policy suggestions and executive actions to address the health crisis.
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