Harvard sues the Trump administration over ban on enrolling foreign students

Harvard University is challenging the Trump administration’s decision to bar the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students, calling it unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House’s political demands.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump fired off a post on his social media network in which he said the European Union has been “very difficult to deal with” in trade talks and that he wants to impose 50% tariffs on the EU in June.

Here’s the latest:

Trump hosts top crypto investors as some industry leaders fear he’s putting personal profits first

President Trump rewarded top investors in one of his cryptocurrency projects with a swanky dinner Thursday night, an event that showed the ascendance of an emerging financial industry — and also the president’s willingness to mix public office with personal profit.

Some 220 of the biggest investors in the $TRUMP meme coin were invited to Trump’s luxury golf club in Northern Virginia, where they dined on filet mignon and halibut. According to participants’ posts on social media, Trump spoke for about half an hour before dancing to the song “YMCA.”

Despite the White House insisting Trump would be attending the event “in his personal time,” he stood behind a lectern with the presidential seal as he touted an industry that’s generating profits for his family business.

After feeling unfairly targeted under President Joe Biden, the crypto industry has quickly become a powerful political force, donating huge sums to help Trump and friendly lawmakers. The U.S. Senate is advancing key pro-crypto legislation while bitcoin prices soar.

▶ Read more about Trump and crypto investors

Belgian princess left in doubt about her Harvard future following Trump’s foreign student ban

Belgium’s Royal Palace said Friday that Princess Elisabeth, who’s first in line to the throne, is waiting to find out whether she can return to Harvard for her second year after Trump announced a ban on foreign students at the university.

The Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students in its escalating battle with the Ivy League school, saying thousands of students must transfer to other schools or leave the country.

“We are looking into the situation, to see what kind of impact this decision might have on the princess, or not. It’s too early to say right now,” said the palace’s communications head, Xavier Baert.

Baert said Princess Elisabeth, aged 23, has completed her first year of a graduate school program at Harvard and would spend the summer back in Belgium. “And we’ll have to see what happens next year,” he said.

▶ Read more about Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth

Vice President JD Vance will address graduates at the US Naval Academy on Friday

The president and vice president traditionally speak at one of the military service academies every year. Trump is scheduled Saturday to speak at West Point’s commencement.

Vance, who served in the Marines, was the first veteran to serve on a major party presidential ticket since John McCain in 2008 when he became Trump’s running mate last year. Former President George W. Bush, who left office in 2009, was the last sitting president who had served in the military.

Trump tariff threats on Europe and Apple send markets lower

President Trump is sending stocks lower again, this time after threatening 50% tariffs on the European Union that could begin in a little more than a week.

The S&P 500 was down 1.1% in early trading Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 408 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 1.6%.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that trade talks with the European Union “were going nowhere” and that the “straight 50%” tariffs would go into effect on June 1. Apple sank after Trump threatened to put a 25% tariff on its products unless the company moves iPhone manufacturing to the U.S.

▶ Read more about the financial markets

Trump administration says Columbia violated civil rights of Jewish students

The Trump administration is accusing Columbia University of violating the civil rights of Jewish students by “acting with deliberate indifference” toward what it describes as rampant antisemitism on campus.

The finding was announced late Thursday by the Health and Human Services Department, marking the latest blow for an Ivy League school already shaken by federal cutbacks and sustained government pressure to crack down on student speech.

It comes hours after the Department of Homeland Security said it would revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, a major escalation in the administration’s monthslong attack on higher education.

▶ Read more about Trump’s dispute with Columbia University

Harvard sues the Trump administration over ban on enrolling foreign students

The Ivy League school calls the ban unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House’s political demands.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government’s action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”

“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” Harvard said in its suit.

The school said it plans to file for a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.

▶ Read more about Trump’s dispute with Harvard University

Trump said he wants to impose 50% tariffs on EU in June because of stalled trade talks

Trump fired off another post on his social media network on Friday in which he said the European Union has been “very difficult to deal with” in trade talks.

“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” the president said and added that he is “recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.”

Trump’s Harvard visa threat could wipe out several of the school’s sports teams

Some of Harvard’s sports teams would be virtually wiped out by a Trump administration decision announced on Thursday that would make the Ivy League school with the nation’s largest athletic program ineligible for international student visas.

Harvard’s 42 varsity sports teams are the most in the nation, and Sportico reported last month that 21% of the players on the school’s rosters for the 2024-25 seasons — or 196 out of 919 athletes — had international hometowns. The site noted that some could be U.S. citizens or green card holders who wouldn’t need one of the international visas at issue in an escalating fight premised by the administration’s assertions that the school failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism.

▶ Read more about how the ban could impact Harvard’s sports teams

Trump threatens 25% import tax on Apple unless iPhones are made in the US

Trump on Friday threatened to put a 25% tariff on Apple products unless iPhones are manufactured in the United States.

The threat delivered over social media could dramatically increase the price of iPhones, potentially hurting sales and the profits of one of America’s leading technology companies. The company now joins Amazon, Walmart and other major companies as being in the White House’s crosshairs as they try to respond to the uncertainty and inflationary pressures unleashed by the import taxes being imposed by Trump.

Apple, led by CEO Tim Cook, in response to Trump’s tariffs on China was looking to shift iPhone manufacturing to India as it adjusts supply chains. That plan has become a festering source of frustration for the U.S. president, who also brought it up last week during his Middle East trip.

▶ Read more about possible tariffs on Apple

China criticizes US ban on Harvard’s international students

The Chinese government said Friday that the Trump administration’s move to ban international students from Harvard would harm America’s international standing, as anxious students and parents overseas fretted over what would come next.

Among the two largest parts of the international student community in Harvard are Chinese and Indian students. The university enrolled 6,703 international students across all of its schools in 2024, according to the school’s data, with 1,203 of those from China and 788 from India.

The Trump administration’s move, announced Thursday, was a hot topic on Chinese social media. State broadcaster CCTV questioned whether the U.S. would remain a top destination for foreign students, noting Harvard was already suing the U.S. government in court.

▶ Read more about China’s response to the ban