“Federal funding is a privilege, not a right, for colleges and universities,” said Kush Desai, a White House spokesman.
Such steps were unheard of before Trump took office. Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education and an Education Department official under President Barack Obama, said Trump isn’t seeking deals but is “demanding more and more and more.”
“Institutional autonomy is an important part of what makes higher education work,” he said. “It’s what enables universities to pursue the truth without political considerations.”
The Fed has also faced Trump’s wrath. He blames Fed Chair Jerome Powell for moving too slowly to cut interest rates, which could make consumer debt like mortgages and auto loans more affordable. It could also help the U.S. government finance the federal debt that’s expected to climb from the tax cuts that Trump recently signed into law.
Powell has held off on cutting the central bank’s benchmark rate, as Trump’s tariffs could possibly worsen inflation and lower rates could intensify that problem. Desai said the White House believes the Fed should act based on what the data currently shows, which is that “President Trump’s policies have swiftly tamed inflation.”
Although Trump has said he won’t try to fire Powell — a step that might be impossible under the law anyway — he’s called on him to resign. In addition, Trump’s allies have increased their scrutiny of Powell’s management, particularly an expensive renovation of the central bank’s headquarters.
David Wessel, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, said Trump’s approach could undermine the Fed’s credibility by casting a political shadow over its decisions.
“There will be real costs if markets and global investors think the Fed has been beaten into submission by Trump,” he said.
Trump originally wanted to enact sweeping tariffs in April. In his view, import taxes would fix the challenge of the U.S. buying too much from other countries and not selling enough overseas.
After a backlash in financial markets, Trump instituted a three-month negotiating period on tariffs. Peter Navarro, one of his advisers, said the goal was “90 deals in 90 days.”
The administration announced a few trade frameworks with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, but Trump ran out of patience. He’s sent letters to two dozen nations and the European Union informing them of their tariff rates, such as 30% against the EU and Mexico, potentially undercutting the work of his own negotiators.
Desai said Trump’s approach has generated “overwhelming interest” from other countries in reaching trade deals and gives the U.S. leverage in negotiations.
John C. Brown, a professor emeritus of economics at Clark University in Massachusetts, said the “willy-nilly setting of tariffs according to one person’s whims has no precedence in the history of trade policy since the 17th century.”
“It’s just bizarre,” Brown said of Trump’s moves. “No one has done this in history.”
The president has also used the threat of tariffs in an attempt to help political allies and influence other countries’ court systems. He told Brazil that he would implement a 50% tariff if the country didn’t drop its prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who like Trump was charged with trying to overturn an election.
Inu Manak, a fellow on trade policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump’s inconsistent approach will foster distrust of U.S. motives.
She noted that two of the letters went to Canada and South Korea, allies who have existing trade agreements with the U.S. approved by Congress.
By imposing new tariffs, she said, Trump is raising “serious questions about the meaning of signing any deal with the United States at all.”
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
