The university, like many colleges and charities, is exempt from federal income and property taxes, saving it billions of dollars. President Trump has questioned whether it should enjoy that status.

After the university rejected his administration’s demands, President Donald Trump threatened to tax Harvard as a "political entity," following his move to freeze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the school. He doubled down on his ultimatums three weeks later, insisting that Harvard losing its tax-exempt status was "what they deserve."

A New York University School of Law professor on tax policy called the news a “lawless action by the President.”