Former President Donald Trump announced a plan to create a free university and teased topics that could be taught.
In a social media post this week, Trump spoke about his plans to create the American Academy, which he said will be an online university that will be funded from the "billions and billions of dollars," that will be collected after "taxing, fining, and suing excessively large university endowments."
"This institution will gather an entire universe of the highest quality educational content covering the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills and make that material available to every American citizen online for free," Trump said. "Whether you want lectures, or ancient histories or an introduction to financial accounting or training in a skill trade. The goal will be to deliver it and get it done properly."
Trump went on to criticize some universities throughout the U.S. following protests amid fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.
"In recent weeks, Americans have been horrified to see students and faculty at Harvard and other once-respected universities expressing support for the savages and jihadists who attacked Israel...We spend more money on higher education than any other country—and yet, they're turning our students into Communists and terrorist sympathizers of many, many different dimensions," he said.
Since Hamas' attacks in Israel on October 7, fighting has continued with more than 9,000 casualties reported across both sides, according to the Associated Press. Shortly after the fighting began, the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups issued a joint statement signed by several other student groups criticizing Israel.
"We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence," the statement said in part.
In his announcement, Trump said the American Academy will be a "top tier education option," adding that it "will be strictly non political."
"No wokeness or jihadism allowed. None of that's gonna be allowed," Trump said. "Most importantly, the American Academy will compete directly with the existing and very costly four-year university system by granting students degree credentials that the U.S. government and all federal contractors will henceforth recognize."
Shortly after the statement was released by the Harvard student groups, school President Claudine Gay responded in a statement, saying, "As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever one's individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region.
"Let me also state, on this matter as on others, that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group—not even 30 student groups—speaks for Harvard University or its leadership."
Newsweek reached out to a Trump spokesperson via email for comment.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
