Trump Biographer Explains Why US President Hates Harvard: 'He Didn't Get Into It'

3 days ago 9

ARTICLE AD BOX

Last Updated:May 31, 2025, 08:28 IST

Michael Wolff said, “So one of the Trump things is always holding a grudge against the Ivy League.”

As Donald Trump ramped up his campaign against Harvard University, his longtime biographer Michael Wolff offered a striking personal theory on US President’s animosity toward the Ivy League school. In a recent episode of The Daily Beast’s podcast, Michael Wolff- author of Fire and Fury, Siege, and All or Nothing- dismissed the internet speculation that Donald Trump’s anger toward Harvard is due to his son Barron being denied admission.

Instead, he pointed to Trump’s own past.

“He didn’t get into Harvard," Michael Wolff claimed, adding, “So one of the Trump things is always holding a grudge against the Ivy League."

While podcast host Joanna Coles noted that several of Donald Trump’s allies have Harvard connections, Michael Wolff argued that personal resentment and Donald Trump’s instinct for confrontation were far more central to his current attacks.

“It’s important not to lend too much calculation and planning to anything he does," he said, explaining, “Harvard just fits perfectly into the kind of elite enemy Trump loves to take down."

All of this is part of “the Trump show", the biographer said, adding, “He needs an enemy. Harvard, for all it represents, fits right into that narrative. It’s drama. It’s domination of the headlines. And that’s what Trump lives for."

There is no official record confirming that Donald Trump ever applied to Harvard as he attended Fordham University before transferring to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics.

A White House spokesperson dismissed Michael Wolff’s remarks as “fake news", saying, “The President didn’t need to apply to an overrated, corrupt institution like Harvard to become a successful businessman and the most transformative President in history."

Donald Trump vs Harvard

Donald Trump accused the university of antisemitism, frozen $2.2 billion in federal funding, and barred it from enrolling new international students unless it complies with a set of White House demands. Harvard has refused to yield, calling the restrictions unlawful. The Donald Trump administration has also ordered consular officers to apply enhanced scrutiny to visa applicants headed to Harvard.