Trump Planning Executive Order On College Foreign Funding

President Donald Trump will threaten to cut off federal funding from colleges and universities that fail to disclose their sources of foreign money as part of an executive order that advances his administration’s campaign against elite higher education institutions.

Federal law already requires colleges and universities to disclose gifts or contracts worth $250,000 or more from foreign entities, though the enforcement of those requirements and related regulations have prompted scrutiny and criticism of the Biden administration from conservative lawmakers.

This time, Trump’s expected order says certain federal grants for universities could be revoked if they do not comply with the administration’s latest funding disclosure requirements, according to a White House summary of one of several education-related directives expected to be signed by the president in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Trump’s order would further direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reverse or rescind any actions by the prior administration “that allow universities to obscure details regarding their foreign funding,” according to the White House.

The order would also have McMahon require that universities disclose the source and purpose of foreign funds — while working with Attorney General Pam Bondi and other agencies to pressure institutions that do not comply with audits, investigations and other enforcement actions.

“For far too long, foreign funds have flowed to U.S. colleges and universities with inadequate transparency or oversight,” the Trump administration said in its summary of the order obtained by POLITICO. “Undisclosed foreign funding raises serious concerns about potential foreign influence, national security risks, and compromised academic integrity.”

Earlier this year, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) demanded the Education Department disclose details of how it enforced federal requirements for colleges to report foreign gifts or contracts valued at more than $250,000, amid conservative criticism that the Biden administration rolled back investigations launched during Trump’s first administration.

House lawmakers last month, in a bipartisan vote, approved legislation that would lower the reporting threshold to $50,000, with even stricter thresholds for “countries and entities of concern.” That legislation is now pending in the Senate.

The Trump administration also announced the appointment of Paul Moore to serve as the Education Department’s assistant general counsel and chief investigative counsel. Moore led the department’s investigations into colleges’ foreign funding disclosures during Trump’s first administration.

Wednesday’s anticipated order builds on initiatives from Trump’s first term in office, when former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos intensified the administration’s scrutiny of foreign gifts given to U.S. colleges and universities and warned campus officials they needed to more fully report such arrangements to the government.